QatarEnergy has signed a key deal with the Bangladesh state-owned Petrobangla for the long-term supply of liquefied natural gas to the Bangladeshi market.

The Qatari state giant confirmed the development on Thursday and said it “has entered into a long-term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Petrobangla to supply about 1.8 million tonnes per annum of LNG to Bangladesh for 15 years, starting in 2026.”

Qatar currently delivers more than 3.5 million tpa of LNG to Bangladesh, the company said.

“With this new SPA, QatarEnergy reaffirms its position as the LNG supplier of choice for its partners in the South Asia LNG markets,” it stated.

QatarEnergy chief executive Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said Qatar is the “largest LNG supplier to Bangladesh and Petrobangla by a large margin”.

“These supply arrangements reinforce our unwavering dedication to safeguarding the energy security of valued customers like Bangladesh,” he noted.

QatarEnergy has also signed multiple long-term LNG supply deals with Chinese players in past few months, with supplies likely to be met from its massive North field expansion programme.

Qatar is expanding the capacity of its North Field and aims to achieve an LNG production capacity of 110 million tpa by 2027, significantly higher than its current 77 million tpa nameplate capacity.

The expansion is being carried out through two phases and is expected to cost Qatar up to $50 billion, Upstream understands.

QatarEnergy also stated it has concluded construction contracts and long-term charter agreements for 60 LNG carriers as part of its LNG shipbuilding programmes, supporting the North Field expansion projects.