Qatar Petroleum signed three deals with South Korean shipbuilders reserving slots for its LNG tanker fleet expansion valued over $19 billion.
Under the three agreements, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) – will reserve a major portion of their LNG ship construction capacity for Qatar Petroleum through the year 2027.
The three deals will enabe Qatar Petroleum reserve LNG ship construction capacity in South Korea to be utilized for its future LNG carrier fleet requirements, including those for the ongoing expansion projects in the North Field and in the United States.
Qatar Petroleum president and CEO, and Qatari minister of state for energy affairs, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi commented that
These agreements will ensure our ability to meet our future LNG fleet requirements to support our expanding LNG production capacity and long-term fleet replacement requirements.
He added that the company is moving ahead with the North Field expansion projects to raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 million today to 126 million tons per annum by 2027.
The new LNG vessels will be equipped with slow-speed dual-fuel engines utilizing LNG as fuel, Al-Kaabi noted, adding that the company has secured about 60% of the global LNG shipbuilding capacity through 2027 to cater for our LNG carrier fleet requirements in the next 7-8 years, which could reach 100+ new vessels with a program value in excess of 70 billion Qatari Riyals (over $19.2billion).
Back in 2019, affiliates of Qatar Petroleum and the Belgian independent natural gas transport company Fluxys Belgium signed a long-term agreement for LNG unloading services at the Zeebrugge LNG Terminal.
