Regional LNG: First LNG shipment from Qatargas 3 Project

US oil, gas firm ConocoPhillips announced Wednesday that the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Qatargas 3 (QG3) joint venture was shipped on Nov. 25, 2010.

The cargo departed from Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, bound for the Canaport LNG Terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

"ConocoPhillips is proud of our participation in the QG3 project,? said Jim Mulva, Chairman and CEO. ?It increases our company?s global LNG output, while contributing to Qatar?s achievement of reaching total LNG production capacity of 77 million tonnes per annum.?

The QG3 venture was formed in 2005 and is jointly owned by ConocoPhillips (30%), Qatar Petroleum (68.5%), and Mitsui (1.5%). The scope of the venture includes a fully integrated LNG project, inclusive of reservoir development, offshore wellhead production platforms and pipelines, an onshore liquefaction plant with associated common storage and loading facilities, as well as chartering of LNG ships to support approximately 7.8 million tonnes of annual LNG deliveries. (alex)