QP Strikes $19.2bn in Shipbuilding Deals

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has struck a trio of deals worth Qatari riyals 70bn ($19.2bn) to reserve capacity for the construction of LNG carriers at South Korean shipyards, it announced on June 1, hailing the agreements as the biggest of their kind in history.

Under the deals, the world's biggest LNG exporter will book "a major portion" of the LNG shipbuilding capacity of South Korea's top three yards, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, through 2027.

"With the conclusion of these milestone agreements, we have everything in place to commence the largest LNG shipbuilding programme in history," QP CEO Saad al-Kaabi, who also serves as Qatar's energy minister, said in a statement.

QP said it was reserving around 60% of global LNG shipbuilding capacity over the next seven years, with the aim of building potentially over 100 vessels. Qatar has a two-stage plan to expand its liquefaction capacity from 77mn mt/yr at present to 110mn mt/yr in 2025 and 126mn mt/yr in 2027. Al-Kaabi said recently that QP was moving "full steam ahead" on the project,