To ramp up natural gas production and emerge as a global player in the growing global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG), French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company TotalEnergies has been awarded a 25% stake to develop the world’s largest natural gas field in Qatar. State-owned QatarEnergy will own 75% stakes. 

The TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy partnership will encompass the development of the world’s largest LNG project for the North Field East expansion. The French energy major will spend an estimated $2 billion for a 6.25% share of the project to help Qatar increase its LNG production by more than 60% by 2027.

“We had announced that we are no longer investing in any new project in Russia, so the signing of this project in Qatar is important for us,” said TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne in a press statement. 

This announcement is in line with Qatar’s strategy to partner with international energy companies in the first and largest phase of a nearly $30 billion expansion of the North Field project. 

Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar’s minister of state for energy, said the selection process for partners had been finalized, and subsequent signings could be announced as soon as next week. The minister added following the completion of investments, Asian buyers are expected to make up half the market for the project, and buyers in Europe the rest. According to reports, ExxonMobil, Shell, and ConocoPhillips are all in line to participate in the expansion.

The Ukraine conflict has also injected new urgency into efforts worldwide to develop new sources.