The nine vessels in the deal with Nakilat each have a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters and represent half of the 18 vessels.
QatarEnergy and Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) signed a long-term agreement on Wednesday, enabling the latter to operate and charter nine “QC-Max” class liquified natural gas vessels.
The signing took place in Doha between Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad Al-Kaabi, and Abdullah Al-Sulaiti, Nakilat’s CEO, QatarEnergy said in a statement.
Al-Kaabi, who is also QatarEnergy’s president and CEO, noted that the vessels are the largest ever built.
The signing came after QatarEnergy and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) inked a $6 billion deal last month for the construction of 18 QC-Max liquified natural gas vessels, the largest of their kind.
The nine vessels in the deal with Nakilat each have a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters and represent half of the 18 vessels.
“With last month’s signing of the industry’s largest single shipbuilding contract ever, QatarEnergy is pushing ahead with the implementation of its historic LNG vessel expansion program with full confidence that Nakilat and our selected international shipowners will ensure that our fleet is operated to the highest and most advanced safety,” Al-Kaabi said.
The agreements come under the Qatari company’s fleet expansion programme, aimed at supporting the Gulf energy giant’s plans to expand its LNG production capacity.
So far, the expansion programme has seen the signing of contracts and time charter agreements for 104 conventional LNG vessels and 18 QC-Max class LNG vessels. The first new ship is expected to be delivered by the end of the third quarter of this year.
In February, QatarEnergy selected Nakilat as the owner and operator of 25 conventional-size LNG vessels.
In 2022, the Qatari company concluded the first phase of its fleet expansion project by signing a long-term Time Charter Party agreement for the charter and operation of 60 LNG ships.
A TCP stipulates that a shipowner leases a fully equipped and manned vessel for a fixed period to a charterer.
The project aims to meet Qatar’s future requirements under its North Field Expansion Project and the Golden Pass LNG export projects.
The multi-billion North Field project comes under Qatar’s LNG endeavours and is split into the North Field East (NFE), North Field South (NFS), and North Field West.
NFE is set to ramp up Qatar’s LNG production from 77 to 110 mtpa (metric tonnes per annum) by 2025, as the NFS will increase the production capacity from 110 to 126 mtpa by 2026.
North Field West would represent an almost 85 percent increase in production in comparison to the current 77 mtpa.
