Fitch affirms RasGas Co Ltd (II)'s & (3)'s senior secured bonds

Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II) and Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (3) (together "the Project") are owned, either directly or indirectly, by Qatar Petroleum (QP: around 70%) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (EM, rated 'AAA'/Stable/'F1+': around 30%). The Project is the development, construction and operation of 5 LNG liquefaction trains (trains 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7) in Qatar totalling approximately 29.7 MTPA of LNG and the sale of this LNG and by-products, principally under long term take or pay contracts. Trains 3, 4 and 5 are already operating with total capacity of 14.1 MTPA.


The 'A+' ratings reflect the Project's low break-even prices and the diversity of revenue streams both in terms of products and markets. The rating is constrained by the remaining construction period, particularly given the delays in completion and that the scale of trains 6 and 7 is larger than any in existence today.

The economies of scale and a long debt tenor provide the Project with strong economics with average nominal break-even prices of $2.72 per mBTU for Henry Hub and $14.08 per barrel of Brent on the sponsor's base case. This Project is extremely important to both QP and EM, as demonstrated by the maintenance of ownership clause. The importance of this Project is also demonstrated by QP and EM's downstream commitments in re-gasification terminals and the EM co-lending.