South Korean shipbuilders saw their shares surge by more than 5 percent on speculation Qatar is about to order between 30 and 40 new liquefied natural gas carriers as it advances with plans to build four new processing Trains and to regain its position as the largest global LNG producer.
Korean shipyard executives have been sounded out by Qatar Petroleum officials on freeing up berths over the next 12 months for a wave of Qatari LNG newbuilds.
Samsung Heavy Industry shares jumped 5.63 percent on January 28 on the South Korean stock exchange to 8,400 won ($7.53) per share on the reports, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shares rose 4.78 percent to 36,200 won ($32.4) and shares in Hyundai Heavy Industries, the largest shipbuilder, increased by 3.24 percent to 143,000 won ($128) each.
The Korean yards specialize in constructing the Qatari Q-Flex and Q-Max tanker with between 210,000 cubic metres and 266,000 cubic metres capacity.
A South Korean government spokesman said that the Qataris had outlined their LNG carrier building plans during a bilateral summit in Seoul.
Between 2004 and 2007, Qatar ordered 45 LNG carriers from the Korean yards when Daewoo built 19 Qatari carriers, Samsung constructed 18 vessels and Hyundai received orders for eight ships.
The Qataris are also in talks with global oil majors about selling partnerships in the additional four liquefaction Trains being planned to boost production by 40 percent.
The scope of the expansion at the Ras Laffan production complex involves an additional three liquefaction Trains, each with 7.8 million tonnes per annum of output and with pre-investment to add a fourth new Train soon after.
This would take nameplate output up to 108.2 MTPA from 77 MTPA when the four Trains at Ras Laffan are completed by 2023 and 2024.
The Qatari expansion by 31 MTPA amounts to more in volume than the LNG currently produced by nations such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria, hence the large shipping requirements.
Qatar’s foreign shareholders in the existing LNG Trains are ExxonMobil, the largest with stakes in 10 Trains, French major Total with shares in three Trains and Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips, each with a stake in one Train.
Other holders of small stakes in Qatar LNG Trains include foundation customers, including the Japanese trading houses, Marubeni Corp, Mitsui & Co. and Itochu Corp., as well as Korea Gas Corp.
All are expected to express interest in the tenders set to be launched by Qatar for potential shareholders in the Ras Laffan expansion, along with possible newcomers such as Chevron Corp., Equinor of Norway, Italy’s Eni and Far East national oil companies.
Qatar’s new onshore facilities will receive about 4.6 billion standard cubic feet per day of feed gas from the southern sector of Qatar's North Field gas reserves in the Gulf.
Qatar has the southern portion of the North Field and the other part is under the jurisdiction of Gulf neighbour Iran.
