Samsung Heavy, Large-Scale LNG Carrier Construction Order from Qatar

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] Samsung Heavy Industries announced on the 2nd that it has signed an agreement guaranteeing the rights to place large-scale LNG carrier orders with Qatar Petroleum (QP), the Qatar state-owned oil company. Nam Jun-woo, President of Samsung Heavy Industries, and Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, CEO of QP and Minister of Energy of Qatar, held a ceremony to commemorate the signing of the agreement on the 1st via video conference connecting Seoul and Qatar. Due to a confidentiality agreement, details such as the slot contract size were not disclosed, but the construction contracts are expected to be sequentially made from as early as this year through 2024.

With this agreement, Samsung Heavy Industries has taken a significant step closer to securing large-scale LNG carrier orders for gas fields currently being developed by QP, including North Field and Golden Pass. The North Field project is the world's largest LNG production project, expected to produce 126 million tons of natural gas annually starting in 2027. QP stated that, in addition to the U.S. Golden Pass project, the order volume could increase significantly due to other LNG projects and the replacement of aging vessels. The contract size with the three Korean shipbuilders this time was announced to be over 100 vessels, worth 70 billion riyals (approximately 23.6 trillion KRW).

A Samsung Heavy Industries official said, "Since 2003, Samsung has successfully built a total of 25 LNG carriers (worth 6 billion USD) ordered from Qatar, and it is evaluated that our excellent construction quality and ability to meet delivery deadlines, accumulated through securing over 150 LNG carriers, received high marks." The official also emphasized, "The QP LNG project will have a positive impact on the order plans of other shipping companies considering large-scale LNG carrier construction."

Meanwhile, Samsung Heavy Industries expects to receive orders within this year for the remaining 10 vessels of the Russian Arctic LNG 2 project, for which 5 vessels were newly contracted last year, as well as multiple LNG carriers for the Mozambique LNG project.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.