Qatar Confirms Plans to Order Up to 60 LNG Carriers

Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatari Minister of Energy and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, confirmed the country’s intentions to order up to 60 new LNG carriers.

Al-Kaabi confirmed the speculations that the Middle Eastern nation would order the vessels at a press conference held on the sidelines of the launch of TAWTEEN programme, according to The Peninsula.

He explained that Qatar was in advanced negotiations to order between 50 and 60 gas carriers to transport the additional volume of nearly 50 million tonnes of LNG, including the LNG output volume abroad. Al-Kaabi added that the exact number of shipbuilding orders would be known at a later time and depends on customers’ destinations, size of contracts and vessels, and other factors.

Qatar’s LNG output is expected to increase by 43 percent from 77 million tonnes per day (mtpa) to 110 mtpa by 2024.

Additionally, Al-Kaabi informed that international tenders would be issued for the procurement of the vessels, while teams of experts have already visited a number of shipbuilders as part of the preparations for placing shipbuilding orders. He added that the vessels would not be built by local shipyards because it would not be economically feasible.

Qatar Petroleum is expected to make a decision on the partners for the LNG shipbuilding project by the end of the year, Al-Kaabi concluded.

During the event, Qatar Petroleum also signed preliminary deals worth around USD 2.47 billion with oil services firms Schlumberger and Baker Hughes in an effort to strengthen its energy industry and reduce reliance on imports.