Kuwait secures 15-year natural gas supply deal with Qatar

Kuwait’s state oil giant on Monday announced a 15-year deal for the supply of natural gas from Qatar, without disclosing the cost of the agreement. QatarEnergy will supply three million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year under the deal, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said in a statement. “This second long-term agreement with QatarEnergy within a short period of time confirms our longstanding collaboration,” KPC chief executive Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah said. Kuwait struck a similar deal with the state-owned Qatari energy firm in 2020. Sheikh Nawaf added that the deal would “provide a cleaner source of energy”, in line with Kuwait’s long-term strategy for energy transition. Since mid-June, oil-rich Kuwait has imposed power rationing in several residential and industrial areas to cope with rising electricity consumption during the summer heat. Under the new deal, LNG deliveries to Kuwait’s Al-Zour refinery are scheduled to begin in 2025, KPC said. “This is a new long-term partnership… that constitutes a central element in supporting Kuwait’s sustainability goals particularly in the electricity generation sector,” Qatar Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi, who is also the chief executive of QatarEnergy, said. Qatar is one of the world’s top liquefied natural gas producers alongside the United States, Australia and Russia. In February, Qatar announced plans to expand its output from its North Field project, saying it will boost capacity to 142 million tonnes per year before 2030.