Page 13 - AsianOil Week 40 2021

AsianOil EAST ASIA AsianOil

QP strengthens Asian ties with

pair of Chinese deals

PROJECTS & QATAR Petroleum (QP) signed last week a This week’s deal was signed by Al-Kaabi and
COMPANIES 15-year sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to CEO, and CNOOC chairman Wang Dongjin.
supply 3.5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG to a During the virtual signing ceremony,
subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. Al-Kaabi said: “We are pleased to further build
(CNOOC). The deal was signed with CNOOC upon our strong relationship with CNOOC with
Gas and Power Trading & Marketing for delivery the signing of this new long-term LNG supply
of cargoes beginning in January 2022. agreement. We are especially proud to continue
The deal takes the total volume of LNG deals to meet the People’s Republic of China’s growing
agreed by QP during the first nine months of need for cleaner energy that LNG provides and
2021 to 14mn tpy, with deliveries of 12.75mn tpy are thankful to CNOOC for partnering with us
due to begin in January 2022. The total volume as their trusted LNG supplier.”
covered by these deals over their 10- to 20-year Since the shipment of the first LNG cargo to
terms is more than 170mn tonnes of LNG. CNOOC in September, QP said that as of August
According to a research note by consultancy this year, Qatar has delivered a total of 715 LNG
IGM Energy, at 52.5mn tonnes, the CNOOC cargoes to China, of which 270 shipments con-
contract is the largest by volume. taining more than 24mn tonnes of LNG have
Unsurprisingly, all of these agreements have been delivered to CNOOC.
been signed with Asian countries as Qatar seeks
to strengthen its position in the region as its Vessel expansion
North Field Expansion (NFE) project increases With such expansion plans already in train, QP
the emirate’s liquefaction capacity from 79mn this week kicked off the largest ever fleet expan-
tpy currently to 110mn tpy by 2025/26 and sion in the history of the LNG sector, to cater to
126mn tpy by 2027. growing production.
NFE is the world’s single largest LNG pro- The company placed an order for the first
ject. QP took a final investment decision (FID) four LNG carriers under this programme with
on NFE alone earlier this year, having previ- Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group Co., a
ously relied on IOCs’ expertise – as well as their subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corp.
investments – to develop its initial liquefaction (CSSC). The deal is the first with a Chinese ship-
capacity, but now has the expertise to go it alone. yard and follows an April 2020 agreement with
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of Hudong to reserve ship construction capacity.
State for Energy Affairs and QP’s president and The contract is valued in excess of $770mn.
CEO, noted recently that two further LNG trains In an official statement, QP said: “These four
are likely to be announced in Q1 2022, with QP carriers are the first batch of orders in Qatar
expecting to add a total of 64mn tpy of LNG, Petroleum’s massive LNG shipbuilding pro-
including the company’s participation in the gramme, which will cater for future LNG fleet
Golden Pass project in the US. requirements for the North Field expansion
Qatar is also increasing its role in its own projects as well as for existing vessel replacement
regional market with a 15-year, 3mn tpy sup- requirements.”
ply deal with Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) With the April 2020 deal covering “a signifi-
also beginning in January, the first long-term cant portion” of Hudong’s LNG ship construc-
agreement signed for Kuwait’s new LNG Import tion capacity out to 2027, QP has previously
terminal (LNGI), which is expected to achieve said that it could spend up to $3.02bn with the
commercial launch in March. shipyard.™

Week 40 07•October•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13