To support its LNG newbuild requirements for its North field expansion and US LNG investments, Qatar Petroleum (QP) has reached agreements with South Korea’s ‘Big Three’ shipyards to build more than 100 LNG carriers valued at QAR70Bn (US$19Bn)
Under the 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 QP through 2027.
The agreements follow a deal in April in which QP inked a contract with China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding worth about US$3Bn for 16 LNG newbuilds.
Qatari Minister of Energy Affairs and QP president and chief executive Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi signed the agreement in a video conference attended by South Korea Minister of Trade, Industry & Energy Sung Yun-mo.
Other executives attending the video signing ceremony were Qatargas chief executive Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Thani, DSME president and chief executive Sung Geun Lee, HHI president and board member Sam H Ka and SHI president and chief executive Joon Ou Nam.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Al-Kaabi said, “The signing of today’s agreements with the three esteemed Korean companies reflects our commitment to the North Field expansion projects, even during these extraordinary times.” Minister Al-Kaabi said QP is “moving full steam ahead with the North Field expansion projects to raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 mta to 126 mta by 2027. He said the shipbuilding 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.”
Besides its North field expansion, QP also holds a 70% stake in Ocean LNG, a joint venture with ExxonMobil. Ocean LNG will offtake and market all of the volumes from the Golden Pass LNG export project in Sabine, Texas. Commercial LNG exports from the US$10Bn Golden Pass LNG export project are expected to start in 2024. The facility will have a nameplate capacity of 16 mta.
Minister Al-Kaabi added, “With the conclusion of these milestones agreements, we have everything in place to commence the largest LNG shipbuilding programme in history. We have secured approximately 60% of the global LNG shipbuilding capacity through 2027 to cater for our LNG carrier fleet requirements in the next seven to eight years, which could reach 100+ new vessels with a programme value in excess of QAR70Bn (US$19Bn).”
Mr Al-Kaabi said the new LNG vessels will be equipped with the latest generation slow-speed, dual-fuel engines, utilising LNG as a fuel to “ensure the most efficient performance and compliance with the latest global emissions and environmental regulations.”
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