Regional LNG: Qatar Petroleum and ConocoPhillips agree to develop LNG project

Qatar Petroleum and ConocoPhillips announced Friday the signing of a Heads of Agreement for the development of Qatargas 3, a large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) project located in Qatar servicing the U.S. natural gas market.

ConocoPhillips said the agreement provides the framework for the necessary project agreements and the completion of key feasibility studies.

Qatargas 3 is to be an integrated project, jointly owned by Qatar Petroleum and ConocoPhillips. It is to consist of the facilities to produce gas from Qatar's North Field, yielding about 7.5 million tons of LNG per year, in a new, first-of-class LNG train to be constructed at Ras Laffan Industrial City.

?ConocoPhillips will purchase the LNG and be responsible for regasification and marketing within the United States,? ConocoPhillips said in a statement, adding that, the LNG will be shipped from Qatar in a fleet of state-of-the art LNG carriers.

According to the statement, average daily sales volumes are expected to be approximately 1 billion cubic feet per day. Startup is presently anticipated to be in the 2008-2009 timeframe. (*)