Inside Qatar’s $1.3B Push for Lower-Carbon LNG

State energy group advances CO₂ network at Ras Laffan as LNG exporters face rising pressure to curb emissions

18 Nov 2025

Qatar has made one of its clearest moves yet in the carbon capture race. At Ras Laffan, a vast industrial hub on the country’s northeast coast, a new carbon transport and processing project is moving ahead with a price tag of about $1.3 billion.

The contract, valued at roughly KRW 1.9 trillion, has been awarded to Samsung C&T and is tied to QatarEnergy LNG. The facility is expected to be completed around 2030 and will be able to handle up to 4.1 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.

That number matters. But what matters more is where the investment is aimed.

Carbon capture often grabs headlines at the smokestack, where emissions are trapped before they reach the atmosphere. The tougher challenge comes next. Once captured, carbon dioxide has to be compressed, transported, and stored safely. That infrastructure is complex and expensive, and it has slowed many projects around the world.

Qatar’s latest bet focuses squarely on that missing link.

For one of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas, the stakes are commercial as well as environmental. Buyers in Europe and Asia are paying closer attention to the climate footprint of every cargo. Lower carbon LNG is becoming a competitive edge, not just a talking point in investor presentations.

By building out the backbone of a carbon capture and storage network, Qatar is positioning itself to offer that edge. A shared transport and compression system also makes it easier for other industrial sites to connect later, spreading costs and strengthening the business case over time.

There are still hurdles. Long term storage must be secure. Monitoring systems must hold up for decades. And the economics will depend on more emitters signing on.

Yet the direction is clear. Carbon capture in the Gulf is no longer just a strategy slide. With steel going into the ground at Ras Laffan, Qatar is signaling that the next phase of energy competition will hinge not only on how much gas a country can ship, but on how cleanly it can produce it.