Qatar signs world's 'longest' gas supply deal with China

Qatar's state energy company announced a 27-year natural gas supply accord with China on Monday, saying it was the longest ever seen in the industry.

QatarEnergy will send four million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually from its new North Field East project to China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), the company said.

The deal "marks the longest gas supply agreement in the history of the LNG industry", said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar's energy minister and QatarEnergy's chief executive.

The Chinese company's chairman revealed that it had also requested a full share of the North Field South project that is dominated by Western energy giants. 

North Field is at the center of Qatar's expansion of its liquefied natural gas production by more than 60 percent to 126 million tonnes a year by 2027.

Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea are the main market for Qatar's gas, which is increasingly being sought by European countries since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Negotiations with European countries have struggled as Germany and others have baulked at signing the sort of long-term deals made with Asian nations.