Qatar's state-owned oil and gas company has agreed to pay out QAR2.8bn ($769m) to buy four new liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers from a Chinese shipbuilder to meet growing global fuel demand and shortages plaguing parts of Europe and Asia. Qatar Petroleum (QP) announced the deal with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp. The ships are part of a larger, $19bn ship deal to spur Qatar Petroleum’s North Field expansion, a $30bn project to boost capacity by more than 50%.
Another step in a journey
“We continue to push forward with our LNG expansion projects, and today’s announcement is yet another step in our journey’” Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, QP’s president and CEO, said in the Sunday news release. “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,” he said. Demand for LNG is forecast to rise steadily as nations curb production of oil and coal in favour of greener alternatives. As the world’s biggest exporter of LNG, Qatar is poised to profit due to tightened fuel supply in countries such as the UK, where shortages of petrol and truck drivers in recent weeks have created chaos.
New territory for Qatar
About two thirds of QP's LNG exports are delivered across Asia. China is anticipated to surpass Japan as the world’s biggest LNG buyer later this year. Last Wednesday, QP signed a 15-year deal with the marketing subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. to supply 3.5 million tons per year of LNG (no financial details were released). Since shipments began in 2009, QP has delivered 715 LNG cargoes to China, of which 270 (more than 24 million tons of LNG) were delivered to CNOOC. QP has also made deals to supply LNG to customers in Taiwan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.