Qatar leases Transport Vessel to Maximize LNG Production. Qatar, through QatarEnergy, has signed four agreements to lease 19 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) vessels in preparation for increasing national production.
The majority of LNG carriers are rented from ship operators in the Asian region. The Chinese company, namely CMES Co. Ltd. and Shandong MarineGroup Ltd. each will supply six vessels, Qatar Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi said.
Meanwhile MISC Bhd from Malaysia will supply three units and the joint venture Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. and Hyundai Glovis Co. will provide four units.
Each ship has a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters. Qatar needs more LNG carriers as the country increases its annual production capacity from the North Field to 142 million tonnes by 2030 from the current level of 77 million tonnes.
By doing this, Qatar is re-establishing its dominance in the global LNG market. This is because projects in Australia and the US have eroded Qatar’s supremacy in recent years as the world’s main LNG producer.
However, the United States recently imposed a temporary freeze on permits for new projects and Qatari investment in its new facilities. This put Qatar back in the lead. Qatar leases Transport Vessel to Maximize LNG Production
QatarEnergy previously signed another lease agreement for 25 LNG carriers from Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd., also known as Nakilat in early March. Apart from chartering ships, this company also has an LNG carrier fleet. In 2020, it signed landmark deals worth US$22 billion with Korean and Chinese shipbuilders.
