Page 12 - MEOG Week 40 2021

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

QP strengthens Asian ties

with pair of Chinese deals

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

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 06•October•2021