QatarEnergy awards Nakilat ownership of 25 LNG carriers
QatarEnergy has chosen Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) as the exclusive owner and operator of 25 conventional-size LNG carriers under time charter parties (TCP), it said on February 10.
Each vessel, with a capacity of 174,000 m3, will be wholly owned by Nakilat and chartered to affiliates of QatarEnergy. The vessels are slated for construction at South Korean shipyards.
This marks the initial allocation in the second phase of QatarEnergy's LNG fleet expansion project. Additional vessel owners will be selected, and awards will be announced as the project progresses. QatarEnergy aims to build a future LNG fleet exceeding one hundred vessels.
"QatarEnergy is making significant strides in developing its future LNG fleet, and we anticipate revealing the names of additional successful bidders soon," Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, CEO of QatarEnergy, stated.
In 2022, QatarEnergy completed the first phase of its fleet expansion program, signing TCPs for 60 LNG ships to support the North Field East and North Field South expansion projects. The expanded fleet will also meet the shipping needs of QatarEnergy Trading, servicing its global LNG portfolio, including volumes from the Golden Pass LNG export project, and address the replacement requirements of the existing Qatar LNG fleet.
Qatar, the world's largest LNG exporter, held a groundbreaking ceremony on October 3 last year for the North Field expansion project, which will raise the country's LNG production capacity from 77mn tonnes/year to 126mn tonnes/year by 2026.
In December last year, QatarEnergy announced the successful integration of all marketing and marketing-related activities formerly managed by QatarEnergy LNG.