South Korean shipyard are bracing for a jump in liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipbuilding contracts from Qatar. 

Qatar is planning to order 60 new LNG carriers, Qatar’s energy minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said during a Korea-Qatar summit, according to a Reuters report.

The report cited Sung Leep Jung, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering CEO as saying that most of the current Qatari LNG fleet was built by the three major shipyards in South Korea.

South Korean shipyards are expecting the majority of the orders for new LNG carriers, it said.

The plans to order new vessels follows Qatar’s plans to expand its production capacity from the current 77 million tonnes per annum to 110 mtpa, a 43 percent increase.

Qatar aims to add four new liquefaction trains that will produce about 32 mtpa of LNG, 4,000 tons/day of ethane, 260,000 barrels/day of condensate, and 11,000 tons/day of LPG, in addition to approximately 20 tons per day of pure helium.

LNG World News Staff