Page 14 - DMEA Week 01 2021

DMEA TERMINALS & SHIPPING DMEA

strategy and Doha has also sought to embrace the shipyard.
the energy transition as it aims to become a As NOCs elsewhere in the Gulf move to exert
global “energy transition partner”; the new further control over the supply chain through
corporate tagline of Qatar Petroleum, which which their production is sold, Qatar’s ‘nation-
rebranded as QatarEnergy in October. alisation’ of Qatargas 1 illustrates both its confi-
At that point, Al-Kaabi said: “We are making dence and intention to protect its interests.
sure that we protect our environment by keeping As noted by Al-Kaabi at the time of the Qatar-
our carbon footprint at a minimum. This is why gas 1 decision in April 2021, the move concludes
we are utilising sophisticated carbon seques- “more than 25 years of successful operations of
tration methods to capture and sequester 9mn QG1, from which the first ever Qatari LNG cargo
tonnes of carbon dioxide [CO2] a year by the end was exported”. During this period, the company
of the decade.” has acquired expertise from its JV partners Total,
These contracts are part of a broader doubling ExxonMobil, Marubeni and Mitsui, and will
down by Doha on efforts to regain its title as the now proceed alone.
world’s largest LNG exporter. To cater to growing
liquefaction capacity, Qatar is also undertaking Export agreements
a $19bn-plus programme to acquire up to 100 As Qatar embarks on a new ambitious era of
new carriers in the largest fleet expansion in the LNG, Qatargas 1 and 2 are set to commence
history of the LNG sector. new shipments this month that will amount to
QatarEnergy placed an order in October 12.75mn tpy of contracted volumes. In 2021,
for the first four LNG carriers under this pro- QatarEnergy signed nine LNG sale and purchase
gramme with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuild- agreements (SPAs) with Asian customers cover-
ing Group Co., a subsidiary of the China State ing a total volume of 197.5mn tonnes of LNG.
Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC). The deal is the first Of these, six are long-term contracts that
with a Chinese shipyard and follows an April commence this month, providing between 1mn
2020 agreement with Hudong to reserve ship tpy and 3.5mn tpy to clients in China, Pakistan,
construction capacity. The contract is valued in South Korea and Taiwan over periods of 10, 15
excess of $770mn. and 20 years.
In an official statement, then-QP said: “These Meanwhile, Qatar is also increasing its role in
four carriers are the first batch of orders in Qatar its own regional market with a 15-year, 3mn tpy
Petroleum’s massive LNG shipbuilding pro- supply deal with Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC)
gramme, which will cater for future LNG fleet also beginning this month, the first long-term
requirements for the North Field expansion agreement signed for Kuwait’s new LNG Import
projects as well as for existing vessel replacement terminal (LNGI), which is expected to achieve
requirements.” commercial launch in March.
With the 2020 deal covering “a significant 2022 is set to be a year of major growth for the
portion” of Hudong’s LNG ship construction Qatari LNG industry, and with so many projects
capacity up until 2027, the Qatari firm has previ- still to kick off, this will set the tone for much of
ously said that it could spend up to $3.02bn with the next decade.™

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