February 3, 2026 – Qatar has signed a 27-year agreement to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan's largest utility, marking a positive change in the fuel trade relationship between the two nations.

According to the official announcement made during a signing ceremony in Doha on Tuesday, Jera Co. will buy around 3 million tons of LNG annually from QatarEnergy. Last year, Qatar exported about 3.3 million tons of LNG to Japan, a significant drop from approximately 10 million tons in 2017, based on ship-tracking data from Bloomberg.

This new agreement is one of the longest-term deals for a Japanese buyer in recent years and comes as good news for Qatar. The country has been losing business in Japan—currently the second-largest LNG buyer in the world—because Japanese utilities have been choosing more flexible supply options from competitors like the US. At the same time, Qatar is looking for customers to support its major expansion plans, which aim to nearly double its export capacity to 142 million tons by 2030.