Page 5 - MEOG Week 18 2022

MEOG COMMENTARY MEOG

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M Month C Customer r D Destination D Duration (yrs) ) S Start Date A Annual Volume (mmtpa) ) T Total Volume (mmt) )
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Feb-21 Vitol Bangladesh Not disclosed Late-21 1.25 N/A
Feb-21 PSO Pakistan 10 Jan-22 3 30
Mar-21 Sinopec China 10 Jan-22 2 20
Jun-21 Shell China 10 Jan-22 1 10
Jul-21 CPC Taiwan 15 Jan-22 1.25 18.75
Jul-21 KOGAS South Korea 20 Jan-22 2 40
Sep-21 CNOOC China 15 Jan-22 3.5 52.5
Dec-21 Guangdong Energy China 10 2024 1 10
Dec-21 S&T International China 15 Late-22 1 15
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T Total l 1 16 1 196.25
stations and buildings. More sales
Jackets and pipelines for the NFS project will The new tankers will come in useful as Qatari
be subject to a separate tender that is expected to LNG attracts interest the world over. Since being
be awarded by mid-2022. overtaken by Australia then the US as the top
Last year’s NFE awards also included a $1.7bn LNG exporter globally, Doha has attracted the
EPCI contract with Italy’s Saipem covering var- attention of Western governments as a potential
ious offshore facilities, a $2bn lump-sum EPC long-term alterative to piped supplies from Rus-
contract with Samsung C&T for the expansion sia. Calls for more Qatari LNG have intensified
of LNG storage and loading facilities at Ras Laf- Qatar’s Energy Minister and President and
fan and a $13bn EPC deal with a JV between CEO of QatarEnergy HE Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi
Chiyoda and Technip Energies covering the said in February that it would be impossible for
construction of four LNG mega-trains and asso- any one country to replace Russian gas, which
ciated facilities. accounts for 30-40% of European supplies, but
As work speeds up to increase LNG capacity, increased capacity may offer some flexibility.
Doha has been undertaking a $19bn fleet expan- Qatari LNG is mainly sold under long-term
sion project to transport its production to global contracts and only around 10-15% of the total
markets. volume could currently be diverted to Europe,
Last month, QatarEnergy signed time-char- with the majority of cargoes destined for Asia.
ter parties (TCP’s) with a subsidiary of Mitsui Despite US and European lobbying, eastward
O.S.K Lines (MOL) for “the long-term char- flows are likely to continue.
ter and operation of four LNG ships”, the first Last year, QatarEnergy signed nine deals cov-
batch of TCPs awarded under its programme to ering the delivery of more than 196mn tonnes
acquire up to 100 new carriers in the largest fleet of LNG to Asian countries at a combined rate
expansion in the history of the LNG sector. of 16mn tonnes per year (mmtpy), kicking off
Back-to-back LNG carrier shipbuilding between the end of 2021 and 2024 and running
contracts were then signed between MOL for a maximum of 20 years.
and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group For comparison, the EU imported 155bn
(Hudong), a subsidiary of the state-owned China cubic metres (bcm) of Russian gas in 2021,
State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC), for the con- equivalent to 114mn tonnes of LNG and more
struction of four new LNG carriers. than Qatar’s total capacity following the comple-
This followed a direct order with tion of NFE. Displacing Russian gas in its entirety
Hudong-Zhonghua in October worth more than is clearly not a feasible pursuit and while the EU
$770mn for the first four LNG carriers under votes this week on whether or not to implement
the programme and the Qatari firm’s first order such a move, increasing political scrutiny is only
from a Chinese shipyard following an April 2020 likely maintain pressure on prices, to the benefit
agreement with Hudong to reserve ship con- of Qatar. Its expansion could hardly have been
struction capacity. better-timed.™
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