Qatar Petroleum orders four LNG carriers from Hudong-Zhonghua

Qatar Petroleum said that it has ordered four new LNG carriers under a contract worth around $769 million with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group, a fully-owned subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).

According to the Qatari national oil company, the four LNG carriers are the first batch of orders in its LNG shipbuilding program.

Qatar Petroleum’s LNG shipbuilding program is aimed at serving the future LNG fleet requirements for the North Field expansion projects and also for the needs for existing vessel replacement.

The Qatari firm said that the order is also the first ever placed by it or any of its affiliates with a Chinese shipyard for LNG ships. Besides it is the first with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group in connection with the agreement for reserving ship construction capacity that was signed in April 2020.

Qatar Petroleum orders four LNG carriers from Hudong-Zhonghua. Photo courtesy of Qatar Petroleum.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi — Qatar Minister of State for Energy Affairs and the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum said: “We continue to push forward with our LNG expansion projects, and today’s announcement is yet another step in our journey. I am especially pleased with the signing of this order as it marks our first ever new LNG carrier to be built in the People’s Republic of China.

“We are proud to contribute to the success story of the LNG ship construction industry in China. We are also confident in Hudong’s capabilities to execute this order, worth in excess of 2.8 billion Qatari Riyals, to the highest safety and technical standards and to deliver top quality LNG carriers that will facilitate continued safe and reliable delivery of LNG to the world.”

According to Qatar Petroleum, the North Field expansion projects will boost the LNG production capacity of Qatar from 77 million tons per annum to 126 million tons per annum.