Qatar Petroleum has a 70 per cent stake in the project and ExxonMobil Ras Laffan III Limited, a subsidiary of the US oil major ExxonMobil, the remaining 30pc. In a first phase, the RasGas-3 plant is to produce 15.6m tonnes a year of LNG through two trains, the first of which will be operational from the second half of 2008, according to an official statement. Under the 25-year accord starting in 2008, which was signed on Tuesday during a visit by US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, Washington will import more than 25pc of its LNG needs from Qatar, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said. Qatar's giant North Field, which has proven reserves of more than 900 trillion cubic feet (25 trillion cubic metres) of natural gas, is the third largest in the world. The Persian Gulf emirate has launched an industrialisation drive to become the world's top exporter of LNG. The US "is confident that Qatari gas can keep the American market supplied for a very long time to come", Hassan Abu Arafat, economic editor at the Qatari daily Al Sharq, said. And they "know they can count on the stability of Qatar", according to former information minister Hamad Al Kawari. Abu Arafat said the deal with Qatar was "a strategic move of extreme importance, and one which can not be disassociated from the political partnership between the two countries". Doha has developed links with Washington over the past decade. Since 2003, the US Air Force for the Persian Gulf region has been based at Al Udaid, in a move away from Saudi Arabia, while the US Central Command posted its headquarters for the invasion of Iraq at As Saliyah camp. "The past years have proved to the US that Qatar is capable of handling the political and economic changes which have been taking place," Kawari said. l Fluor, an international engineering and construction company, said it won a contract from Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company for $100m for work on a project in Qatar. Fluor said it will book the revenue this quarter, performing the work at its offices in Houston. The company is currently handling preliminary planning on a key project that will ultimately be worth more than $1bn. Bidding for the rest of the job is expected to be completed early next year, Fluor said. The contract covers facilities required to support new projects in Ras Laffan, including six LNG trains. PIN/GULF DAILY NEWS