Oil and Energy

The LNG Finance Forum – from 9-10 May 2005 in the Waldorf Hilton, London – will bring together worldwide leading experts in all aspects of LNG finance, from equity to project finance.

The global demand for LNG is increasing rapidly and is projected to double by 2010 and treble by 2020. At the same time, production costs are falling. Buyers and sellers alike are increasingly developing more flexible approaches to the LNG supply chain.

The LNG Finance Forum will look at the key issues surrounding LNG project finance, deal with structure and shipping, and examine the outlook for the financing of this increasingly important fuel over the next two decades.

“With greater flexibility and more players interacting with each other in LNG, the financial challenges have grown apace. It is an exciting time to be finding LNG investments, may be too exciting!” says James Ball, Chairman of LNG Finance Forum and President & Chief Mentor of Gas Strategies. “As global demand for gas increases, the financial community will have more and more influence on the world’s energy markets” says Allison Lindsay – Director of Conferences – Euromoney Energy Events.

Rumours swirling around in recent weeks about a large new train at the Qatargas LNG project were confirmed on Monday when Qatar Petroleum and Shell signed Heads of Agreement (HoA) for what will be known as Qatargas 4. Shell will take a 30% interest in the joint venture, with QP taking the remaining 70%. In another major development for Qatar, Monday also saw the laying of the foundation stone for the $12.8 billion Qatargas II project – a joint venture of QP (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%) – by Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Heir Apparent of Qatar, in the presence of Britain’s Prince Andrew, the Duke of York.

The 7.8 mtpa Qatargas 4 project, to be located at Ras Laffan City, takes Qatar’s firm planned LNG capacity to 77 mtpa by 2010-12. Its LNG will go to markets in North America and Europe.

Qatargas 4 will involve integrated development of upstream gas production facilities in the North Field to produce 1.4 Bcf/d of gas and associated liquids. The gas will go to a single LNGtrain. The project includes shipping.

The HoA was signed on behalf of Qatar Petroleum by energy minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah and by Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer. Present at the signing were Faisal Bin Mohammed Al Suwaidi, CEO at Qatargas, and Linda Cook, executive director at Shell Gas & Power.

"Qatar's goal to be the world's leader in LNG production is further secured through the development of large-scale projects such as this," said Al Attiyah. "We are very pleased to see Shell enter the LNG industry in Qatar and further contribute to the diversification of LNG markets.”

"This signing of the Qatargas 4 HoA today further demonstrates the strong partnership that Shell is building with Qatar to deliver ambitious projects such as this and the Pearl GTL project which is progressing well,” said Jeroen van der Veer.

“These projects are fully aligned with Shell's strategy of 'more upstream and profitable downstream' through the development of integrated natural gas projects . . . Upon completion, Qatargas 4 will broaden Shell's LNG supply portfolio to include projects in seven countries."

The Qatargas II project involves the export of 15.6 mtpa of LNG to the UK for 25 years, with the first deliveries expected in winter 2007/08. The joint venture has more than $7.6 billion in international financing in place and has established several affiliates to manage the various elements of its integrated project.

Euromoney Energy Events (www.euromoneyenergy.com) is a division of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC and operates from its headquarters in London. Conferences organised by Euromoney Energy Events are well known for their high quality and topicality. They bring together key industry experts and provide a forum for discussion and debate. Gas Strategies Ltd (www.gas-strategies.com) was formed in 1989 as a specialist gas and LNG consulting firm. Since then Gas Strategies has worked for a wide range of clients including all the major international oil and gas companies, governments, utilities, power companies and regulators. It has built up a network of associate companies in key regions around the world adding local and specialist expertise to its existing practice. Today Gas Strategies is a leading expert in due diligence assessments having advised almost every major LNG project financing of the past decade.

For more information about the LNG Finance Forum, please contact Allison Lindsay, Director of Conferences on +44 20 7779 8946 or Isabelle Stanton on +44 20 7332 9912