The deal covers the development of two large LNG trains with combined capacity of 15.6 million tons per annum (mta) of LNG, or about 2 billion cubic feet per day, with the feed gas for these trains to be sourced from Qatar's 900trillion cubic feet (tcf) North Field. More than 26 tcf of the reserve will be dedicated to this project.
Downstream of the plants the parties will be working to acquire necessary transportation capacity and developing regasification capacity in the United States. Delivery is expected to begin in 2008/2009.
"Total estimated investment, including ships, is about $12 billion," Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said of the project to produce 15.6 million tonnes a year of LNG.
"This is the largest LNG import project that has been announced for supplying gas to the United States. It makes Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Exxon Mobil leaders in supplying the important U.S. natural gas market."
The LNG trains will be built at Ras Laffan Industrial City by RasGas II, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, that has been operating since 2001. Two existing trains currently produce more than 6mta of LNG and two additional trains of 4.8mta each are under construction.
ExxonMobil holds a 25% stake in the existing two trains at the RasGas complex, the output of which goes mostly to South Korea's Kogas under a 25-year deal.
Earlier this week Qatar announced plans to funnel investment into the development of its massive gas reservoirs, which currently account for over 15% of the world's known reserves, or enough to support planned production for over 200 years.
Qatar Petroleum will have a 70% equity interest in the project, and ExxonMobil 30%.
