July 04, 2025 [Reuters]- Australian oil and gas producer Santos said on Friday it had signed a mid-term liquefied natural gas supply deal with QatarEnergy Trading, a wholly-owned unit of QatarEnergy, the world’s largest exporter of LNG.

Under the deal, Santos said it would supply 0.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum over a period of two years from 2026. The commodity would be supplied from the firm’s wide portfolio of LNG assets, it said in its statement.

Qatar is the world’s third-biggest liquefied natural gas exporter after the U.S. and Australia.

“We continue to see very strong demand in Asia for high heating value LNG from projects such as Barossa and PNG LNG, as well as for reliable regional supply,” said Kevin Gallagher, Santos CEO and managing director.

In June, Santos, the country’s second-largest independent gas producer, said it had been progressing well towards final commissioning activities at its Barossa LNG project.

The Barossa project, together with the Pikka Phase 1 project in Alaska, is expected to deliver a 30% increase in production for Santos in the next 18 months compared to 2024.

Last month, an international consortium led by Abu Dhabi’s National Oil Company (ADNOC) offered to buy out Santos in an all-cash $18.7 billion takeover bid, which the latter intended to support.