October 22, 2025 [MEED]- QatarEnergy has announced that it started utilising liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and regasification capacity at the UK’s Isle of Grain terminal from July.

In October 2020, QatarEnergy, then known as Qatar Petroleum, signed an agreement with the UK’s National Grid Ventures’ Grain LNG to leverage the terminal for a period of 25 years, with operations staring in mid-2025.

As part of that deal, which QatarEnergy secured following its successful bid in an open season process launched by the National Grid in November 2019, the Qatari state energy enterprise will utilise 7.2 million tonnes a year of the Isle of Grain LNG terminal’s capacity.

The first LNG cargo to be delivered under the agreement was successfully unloaded at the terminal on 15 July, marking the start of the 25-year term of the agreement.

The terminal, located on the Isle of Grain in Kent, is currently able to store and deliver enough gas to meet at least 25% of British gas demand.

The Grain terminal has 1 million cubic metres of LNG storage capacity spread across eight tanks, and an annual throughput capacity of 20-25 billion cubic metres of natural gas.

“We are pleased to commence utilsation of the LNG storage and regasification capacity at the Isle of Grain terminal. This is an important milestone, which expands our LNG storage portfolio and marks a significant step in QatarEnergy’s strategic expansion into the UK gas market through Europe’s largest LNG receiving terminal,” Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and president and CEO of QatarEnergy, was quoted as saying.

QatarEnergy is also a 67.5% shareholder in another LNG terminal in the UK, the South Hook facility, located in London, which meets another 20% of the country’s gas requirements.

Elsewhere in Europe, QatarEnergy’s wholly-owned subsidiary, QatarEnergy Trading, holds LNG terminal capacities at Zeebrugge, Belgium and Montoir in France.