Qatar Petroleum, on Sunday, announced that it had ordered four LNG carriers from Hudong Zhongua Shipbuilding Group Co Ltd. Hudong is a wholly owned subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited – abbreviated to CSSC. The order of these four LNG carriers comes as a part of Qatar’s efforts for its LNG shipbuilding programme which aims to cater the fleet requirements for the North Field Expansion Projects.
“These four carriers are the first batch of orders in Qatar Petroleum’s massive LNG shipbuilding program, which will cater for future LNG fleet requirements for the North Field expansion projects as well as for existing vessel replacement requirements,” Qatar Petroleum’s press release read.
Marking the first Qatari LNG carriers to be built in China
Qatar Petroleum commences LNG ship orders for the North Field expansion projects#QP #QatarPetroleum #Qatarhttps://t.co/I14PivYOb4 pic.twitter.com/N2zHBrbm8A
— QatarEnergy (@qatarenergy) October 3, 2021
This placement of order with Hudong signals the inception of Qatar’s partnership with China in the ship manufacturing sector. These orders will boost China’s large scale manufacturing sector. “This order is also the first ever placed by Qatar Petroleum or any of its affiliates with a Chinese shipyard for LNG ships, and the first with Hudong in connection with the agreement to reserve ship construction capacity that was executed in April 2020,”the press release read.
Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi – at the occasion – said,” 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.”
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Furthermore, the minister utilized the occasion to thank Hudong’s team for their dedication and hard work. He made known his satisfaction and confidence in Hudong’s ability to execute the order. ““I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hudong’s team for all the hard work to bring this order to fruition during these challenging times. I would also like to thank the leadership of our esteemed partner, CSSC, for their valuable support to this effort in line with our mutual desire to further strengthen the excellent relations between China and Qatar. I am very grateful to the Qatar Petroleum and Qatar gas teams, whose dedicated efforts were instrumental in reaching this milestone,” said the minister.
The North Field expansion projects have the potential to scale up Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 million tons per annum to 126 million tons per annum. Qatar Petroleum’s LNG carrier fleet program is the largest of its kind in the history of the LNG industry. It will undoubtedly play a critical role in hitting the mark of shipping requirements of Qatar Petroleum’s local and international LNG projects. In addition to this, this programme will help replace some of Qatar’s existing LNG ships.
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