A 30 year agreement to explore and produce gas around Qatari city Ras Laffan has been signed by Royal Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corp’s subsidiary PetroChina.   The deal will mean exploration both onshore and offshore in Qatar and will cover a region of 8089 km.

The announcement, made today, marks Petrochina’s first foray into investing in the region and Shell’s first such gas deal with Qatar.  Shell will hold a 75% stake in the project with Petrochina having the remaining 25%. 

Qatar, one of the world’s biggest producers of natural gas and home to the world’s biggest gas field, is building up its capacity to export LNG with aims to export 77 million tonnes this year.