Qatar Petroleum signed three agreements to reserve LNG ship construction capacity in the Republic of Korea for its future LNG carrier fleet requirements, including those for the ongoing expansion projects in North field and in the US.
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 Qatar Petroleum through 2027.
In a statement, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, minister of state for energy affairs and president and chief executive officer of Qatar Petroleum reiterated a May comment to move “full steam ahead” with North field expansion projects to raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity to 126 million tonnes/year (tpy) by 2027 from its current 77 million tpy (OGJ Online, May 22, 2020).
With the agreements, he said, the company has everything in place to commence the largest LNG shipbuilding program 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 7-8 years, which could reach 100+ new vessels with a program value in excess of 70 billion Qatari Riyals.”
In April, the company agreed to reserve LNG ship construction capacity with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group Co. Ltd. (Hudong), a wholly owned subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp. Ltd. (CSSC) for its future fleet requirements (OGJ Online, Apr. 22, 2020).
The new LNG vessels will be equipped with the latest generation slow speed dual fuel engines, utilizing LNG as a fuel, he said.