QatarEnergy has signed a 20-year agreement to purchase 3 million tons per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia’s Woodside Energy, with deliveries from the Louisiana LNG project in the US expected to begin in 2030, according to a press release by QatarEnergy.
Under the sale and purchase agreement, deliveries will be made on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, meaning QatarEnergy will take responsibility for the cargo once it is loaded onto the vessel at the export terminal.
The Louisiana LNG project, located on the US Gulf Coast, is currently under construction. The agreement will expand QatarEnergy’s long-term US LNG purchases and diversify its global supply portfolio.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said the additional volumes would make the company the largest buyer of LNG from the United States. He added that the purchases, alongside QatarEnergy’s Golden Pass LNG project, would support its growth and portfolio diversification strategy.
The agreement was announced at a signing ceremony attended by Al-Kaabi and Liz Westcott, CEO and Managing Director of Woodside Energy.
The agreement comes as disruptions to LNG production and shipping in the Middle East continue to affect QatarEnergy’s deliveries. Italian utility Edison said on October 27 that QatarEnergy had extended force majeure on LNG supplies to the end of December 2026, affecting three additional cargoes and bringing the total number of cargoes covered by the suspension since April to 38, equivalent to approximately 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
