As Qatar Energy signed its first LNG carrier charter contract with Japan's MOL, anticipation is growing among Korean shipbuilders for big LNG carrier orders from Qatar, according to the BusinessKorea.
Japan's MOL placed an order to build four LNG carriers with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China. The Japanese company will lease these carriers to Qatar Energy. It became the first company to sign a charter contract with Qatar Energy with regard to Qatar's LNG project.
Qatar is the world's largest LNG producer and is in the process of dialing up LNG production at the Northfield gas field. The Middle East nation plans to expand its LNG production capacity from 77 million tons to 126 million tons by 2027.
Qatar Energy signed slot contracts for building more than 100 LNG carriers with the three Korean shipbuilders -- Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), Samsung Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) -- in June 2020. A slot contract is signed to reserve a dockyard for new ship construction. The size of the slot contracts Qatar Energy signed with the three Korean shipbuilders amounted to 70 billion riyal (about 23.6 trillion won).
However, slot contracts are not official shipbuilding orders. The size of actual orders may decrease in the future. But it is certain that Qatar Energy will award big orders to the three Korean shipbuilders, revitalizing the Korean shipbuilding industry.