Qatar Petroleum launches 100 LNG carriers construction invite
Oil and gas firm Qatar Petroleum has issued an Invitation to tender for the development of four liquefied natural gas mega-trains at its North Field Expansion project. The oil major looks for the reservation of ship construction capacity required for a fleet of over 100 liquefied natural gas carriers.
Oil and gas firm Qatar Petroleum has issued an Invitation to tender for the development of four liquefied natural gas mega-trains at its North Field Expansion project. The oil major looks for the reservation of ship construction capacity required for a fleet of over 100 liquefied natural gas carriers.
Mainly, the vessels will operate for Qatar Petroleum's North Field Expansion (NFE) project that will boost Qatar's LNG production capacity from 77 million tons per annum (mta) to 110 mta starting in 2024.
In the meantime, the tender covers shipping requirements for the LNG volumes that will be purchased and offtaken by Ocean LNG.
According to the company, the tender also includes options for replacement requirements for Qatar’s existing LNG fleet.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum stated
"With this significant step, Qatar Petroleum embarks on another major LNG ship-building campaign expected to initially deliver 60 LNG carriers in support of the planned production expansion, with a potential to exceed 100 new LNG carriers over the next decade."
Qatar Petroleum has entrusted Qatargas to execute this LNG shipbuilding program on its behalf.
The latest invitation to tender resulted in the construction of 45 Q-Flex and Q-Max ships, the world’s largest LNG carriers, which constitute the backbone of Qatar’s LNG carrier fleet today.
