Government owned gas company, also a 70% owner of a large Texas LNG project set to operate in 2026 after much delay, aims to become a major global supplier.
Qatar’s state-owned company QatarEnergy has awarded Italy-based contractor Saipem and China Offshore Oil Engineering Co. Ltd. a contract valued at more than $4 billion to develop the country’s North Field offshore natural gas area off its northeastern coast. It is considered the world’s largest “non-associated” gas field, with the natural gas existing in its own formation separate from oil reserves.
Saipem’s share of the contract is valued at $3.1 billion, the firm said.
The firm’s contract, which it said has a five-year duration, includes engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of two compression complexes—each including platforms for compression, platform, worker quarters, flaring to support the gas combustion system and related interconnecting bridges. Each complex will have a total weight of about 68,000 tons.
Saipem said it will carry out offshore installation operations using its De He heavy-lift construction vessel in about 2029 and 2030.
The field, discovered in 1971, covers an area of over 6,000 sq km, and is believed to be able to hold recoverable gas reserves of more than 900 trillion standard cu ft, according to QatarEnergy.
The new contract follows Saipem’s previous award of field development contracts «disclosed to the market» in October 2022 and September 2024 respectively, according to the contractor, and which are valued at about $8.5 billion and now being executed.
QatarEnergy said it plans for the ’North Field gas development expansion to boost the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity from 77 million tons per year to 142 million tons per year by 2030, involving offshore and onshore infrastructure expansion, new LNG trains and global partnerships to supply energy demand.
The North Field, shared between Qatar and Iran, has had 15 appraisal wells drilled over a period of 14 years. The field expansion also includes a carbon capture and storage project set to handle 2.1 million tons per year, QatarEnergy noted.
Milan-based Saipem said it specializes in engineering and construction of major projects for the energy and infrastructure sectors, both offshore and onshore. The company has five fabrication yards, an offshore fleet of 17 owned construction vessels and 9 owned drilling rigs.
Saipem said it “is committed to supporting its clients on the energy transition pathway toward Net Zero, with technologies and processes geared for environmental sustainability.» Listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, the contractor works in more than 50 countries and employs about 30,000 people.
The company reported $15.7 billion in total global revenue last year, according to its February 2025 year-end results announcement.
QatarEnergy, which also is 70% owner of the Texas-based Golden Pass LNG export terminal set to begin operation next year after a major site construction upheaval in 2024 and other delays, aims to be a major global gas supply contender.
«Liquefied natural gas exports from the U.S. next year could be redefined by two forces: the rise of U.S. natural-gas prices and a flood of low-cost Qatari LNG entering an uncertain global market in less than two years,» says Leslie Palti-Guzman, founder of Energy Vista, a strategic advisory firm, and a nonresident fellow at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs. «U.S. policymakers shouldn’t underestimate Qatar’s competitive advantages, which may impact the ability of U.S. exporters to place their cargoes abroad in the year ahead.»
Saad Al-Kaabi, QatarEnergy CEO and the country’s energy minister, emphasized earlier this year that «energy poverty is a serious issue in the world, where over 1 billion people have no access to basic power,» adding that the expanding global middle class «results in an incremental demand for energy.» While noting the need for for more power, oil and gas, he said «we need more renewables to get a resilient energy mix for the long term. We need all resources on deck.”
