QatarEnergy signs charter deals for 19 LNG carriers
QatarEnergy, a leading global energy company, on March 31 announced the signing of long-term time charter agreements for 19 LNG vessels with four international shipowners as part of its LNG fleet expansion programme.
The agreements entail the operation of six vessels each by China’s CMES LNG Carrier Investment and Shandong Marine Energy, three vessels by Malaysia’s MISC and four vessels by a joint venture of Japan’s K-Line and Korea’s Hyundai Glovis Co.
All vessels are being constructed at world-renowned shipyards, including Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) in South Korea.
Since 2022, QatarEnergy has been actively pursuing charter deals for the long-term charter and operation of LNG vessels. These efforts have resulted in agreements covering 104 conventional LNG vessels.
QatarEnergy's affiliate, QatarEnergy Trading, will charter 43 ships out of the total 104 vessels. The 19 conventional LNG vessels covered in the latest agreements boast a capacity of 174,000 m3.
In December last year, QatarEnergy announced the successful integration of all marketing and marketing-related activities formerly managed by QatarEnergy LNG.
In February this year, QatarEnergy unveiled the North Field West LNG expansion project, which aims to elevate Qatar's LNG production capacity to 142mn tonnes/year before the end of the decade, marking an 85% increase from current production levels.
Last week, QatarEnergy signed time-charter agreements with Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) for the operation of 25 conventional-size LNG carriers.