| The combined capacity of the three trains now amounts to 6 million metric tons per year (Mt/yr) of LNG. With the experience acquired on the first two trains, output could be rapidly increased to 7.2 Mt/yr (or 2.4 Mt/yr per train) without any further investment. Additional production facilities, located approximately 80 kilometers offshore, in the North Field, will be completed by the end of the year.
The construction of the third Qatargas train represents an investment of approximately $600 million for TOTAL and its partners. The cost of the additional North Field installations is estimated at roughly $300 million.
The 2 Mt/yr of LNG from the third Qatargas train will be sold to a consortium of seven japanese gas and electricity utilities. The 4 Mt/yr produced by the first two trains have been sold to Chubu Electric, Japan's third largest electric utility, for a period of 25 years. The first delivery was made in January 1997.
The increase in Qatargas output strengthens TOTAL's position in the LNG market, in which the Group ranks among the world's three leading producers. TOTAL, which already supplies more than half the gas to the world's largest liquefaction facility in Bontang, Indonesia, is the only oil company involved in four LNG projects in the Middle East : Qatargas in Qatar, Adgas in Abu Dhabi, Oman LNG in Oman and Yemen LNG in Yemen. |
