Qatar Petroleum (QP) has placed an order with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group Co. Ltd. (Hudong), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited, for four new LNG tankers (CSSC).
The carriers are the first in QP’s LNG shipbuilding program, which will fulfill future LNG tanker needs for the company’s North Field expansion project, which is the world’s largest natural gas project.
This is QP’s or any of its affiliates’ first order for LNG ships from a Chinese shipyard, and the first from Hudong.
“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,” said the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QP Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi.
“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,” Al-Kaabi added.
QP has also recently secured a new 15-year LNG supply agreement with China.
CNNOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing Limited, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, inked the agreement.
Qatar will begin delivering 3.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum (MTPA) in January 2022, according to the new agreement. China’s biggest offshore oil and gas producer is CNOOC.
QP and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation struck a 10-year partnership in March (Sinopec). Starting in January 2022, the LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) stipulated that 2 million tonnes of LNG per year be delivered to Sinopec terminals in China.
The contract signed in March was QP’s first long-term agreement with a major Chinese LNG importer. China is a big client and strategic partner in the energy sector, according to Qatar.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the country’s third-largest oil business, expressed interest in joining Qatar’s $29 billion North Field LNG expansion project in April.
