Qatar Petroleum announced today that it has ordered the construction of four LNG carriers from Hudong-Jonghua Shipbuilding Group Limited (Hudong), a wholly owned subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited.
The four tankers constitute the first batch of Qatar Petroleum’s massive program to build LNG ships to meet the future requirements of its fleet of tankers associated with the North Field expansion projects, as well as the requirements to replace the existing fleet vessels.
This is the first request of its kind made by Qatar Petroleum, or any of its subsidiaries, with a Chinese liquefied natural gas shipyard, and the first with Hudong Company related to the capacity reservation agreement for shipbuilding that was signed in April 2020.
In a statement on this occasion, His Excellency Engineer Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said: “We are progressing steadily in projects to increase our production of LNG, and today’s announcement represents another major step in this context, and I am pleased to sign this The demand is particularly high because it will be the first time that Qatari LNG carriers will be built in the People’s Republic of China.”
His Excellency Minister Al Kaabi added: “We are proud to contribute to the success story of building LNG ships in China, and we are also confident in Hudong’s capabilities to implement this order, which is worth more than 2.8 billion Qatari riyals, according to the highest standards of safety and quality. This will contribute to the continued safe and reliable delivery of LNG to the world.”
The Minister of State for Energy Affairs thanked the Hudong team for their efforts to fulfill this request during these difficult times, and the leaders of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation for their valuable support for this effort, which supports the common desire to strengthen the excellent relations between China and Qatar, expressing at the same time, His gratitude to the team members of Qatar Petroleum and Qatargas for their dedication and tireless efforts to reach this achievement.
It is worth noting that the North Field expansion projects will raise Qatar’s production capacity of liquefied natural gas from 77 million tons per year to 126 million tons per year.
Qatar Petroleum’s LNG carrier fleet program is the largest of its kind in the history of the LNG industry, and will play a key role in meeting the shipping requirements of Qatar Petroleum’s domestic and international LNG projects, in addition to replacing part of the existing LNG carrier fleet. in Qatar.
