Qatar signed a deal with Eni on Sunday on the expansion of the North Field East (NFE) Project, the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, following on from an agreement with TotalEnergies earlier this month.
QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said Eni would own 25 percent of a new joint venture, giving it a 3.12 percent stake in the expansion that is expected to deliver its first gas in early 2026.
TotalEnergies had said it will have 25 percent of one virtual train, giving it a share of around 6.25 percent of the four.
"Today I'm pleased to announce the selection of Eni as a partner in this unique strategic project," said Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister and head of Qatar Energy.
The project's LNG is expected to come on line in 2027. It will help Qatar increase its liquefied natural gas production by more than 60 percent by 2027, TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne told AFP last week.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has injected urgency into efforts around the world to develop new energy sources as Western countries try to reduce their reliance on Russia.
On Friday, Eni said it would receive only 50 percent of the gas requested from Russia's Gazprom, the third day running of reduced supplies. Rome has accused Gazprom of peddling "lies" over the cuts.
"We have a lot of things to learn from your leadership and also from your standards and from your ability to adapt to very difficult circumstances," Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi told his Qatari counterpart.
Qatar Energy estimates that the North Field, which extends under the Gulf sea into Iranian territory, holds about 10 percent of the world's known gas reserves.
Kaabi refused to divulge how many more partners will be announced. Industry sources have discussed ExxonMobil, Shell and ConocoPhillips, while Bloomberg reported this week that Chinese companies were in talks.
Qatar, which is one of the world's biggest LNG exporters, is "sharing the risks of commercialization" by bringing partners on board, said Thierry Bros, a professor at Paris's Sciences Po and an expert on energy and climate.
South Korea, Japan and China have been the main markets for Qatar's LNG but since an energy crisis hit Europe last year, the Gulf state has helped Britain with extra supplies and also announced a cooperation deal with Germany.
Europe has in the past rejected the long-term deals that Qatar seeks for its energy, but the Ukraine war has forced a change in attitude.
"Qatar is the lowest cost source of supply at the moment and therefore it's attractive to the majors (companies)," Daniel Toleman, an analyst at resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie, told AFP.
"So these companies want to be involved in those projects."
