QatarEnergy's chief executive on Sunday named Shell a partner in the Gulf Arab state's North Field South expansion, part of the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
Shell will have a 9.3% share of the project, and QatarEnergy will keep 75%, Saad al-Kaabi, who is also state minister for energy, said at a news conference.
The development contract for North Field South would be awarded in the first quarter of 2023, Kaabi said. QatarEnergy was open to discussing working with Shell in all energy sectors, he added.
The North Field is part of the world's biggest gas field that Qatar shares with Iran, which calls its share South Pars.
State-owned QatarEnergy earlier this year signed deals for North Field East, the first and larger phase of the two-phase North Field expansion plan, which includes six LNG trains that will ramp up Qatar's liquefaction capacity from 77 million tonnes per annum to 126 million tonnes by 2027.
TotalEnergies, Shell, Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Eni took stakes in the North Field East expansion phase, and last month TotalEnergies was named as the first partner in the North Field South project.
QatarEnergy had said partners for the North Field South would be selected from those already involved in the first phase.
(Reporting by Moataz Mohamed and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Writing by Yousef Saba in Dubai; Editing by Alex Richardson)
