Arabic version: قطر للطاقة توقع اتفاقية طويلة الأجل لتوريد الغاز الطبيعي المسال من الولايات المتحدة

According to Cnbc, QatarEnergy has agreed to buy 4 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas annually from U.S. exporter Cheniere Energy through 2054. Deliveries are expected to start in the 2030s, with the purchase price indexed to the U.S. Henry Hub price plus a fixed fee.

The contract follows a sharp decline in Qatar’s LNG shipments after Iran attacked the Ras Laffan production facility in March. The attack damaged two production lines and removed about 17% of Qatar’s LNG export capacity, according to the report. Qatar’s energy minister, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, has said repairs will take about three years.

Qatar, previously second only to the United States in LNG exports, is currently exporting very little LNG because it cannot move supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, Al-Kaabi said. Qatar has declared force majeure every month since the March attack, citing unexpected and uncontrollable events that prevent contracts from being honored.

Alex Munton, director of global gas and LNG at Rapidan Energy, said the agreement suggests Qatar sees a lasting risk to freedom of navigation through Hormuz. LNG requires seaborne transport, leaving Qatar dependent on access to the strait to bring its supplies to market.

The volume in the Cheniere agreement is less than 1% of global LNG trade of more than 400 million metric tons, but Munton described it as one of the largest individual U.S. deals. Cheniere CEO Jack Fusco said the company expects to supply QatarEnergy from Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi into the second half of the century.