LNG

Excelerate Energy, the leading US provider of floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) with increased demand from Europe and South America, has signed a contract to charter an FSRU to Brazil’s state-owned energy company Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) for 10 years.

A huge floating LNG storage unit, the “Saam FSU”, arrived in Russian waters off Murmansk on June 25 as LNG developer Novatek re-organizes its trading logistics for the Yamal export plant and the new Arctic LNG II project as the Yamal facility also started a shutdown and maintenance programme.

QatarEnergy has celebrated a South Korean steel-cutting of the first of its new generation of chartered liquefied natural gas carriers that will transport output from two LNG expansions and with most of the newbuilds booked for shipyards in South Korea.

QatarEnergy said it was joined by Samsung Heavy Industries and US investment bank JP Morgan Asset Management in a special ceremony on Geoje Island in Korea to mark the official launching of QatarEnergy’s LNG fleet expansion project. 

The Doha-based company said the shipyard event signified an extension of QatarEnergy's “international collaborations and commitment to global partnerships” and follows the October 2022 steel-cutting at Hudong-Zhonghua, the Chinese shipyard to where a far smaller part of the shipbuilding contract was awarded.

The Korean ceremony was held before executives of companies involved in the project including Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Chief Executive of Qatargas who attended on behalf of Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and who is also President and CEO of QatarEnergy.

Samsung was represented by Jin-Taek Jung, the CEO of SHI, and Andy Dacy, the CEO of JP Morgan's Global Transport Group, an owner of LNG carriers to support its commodities business.

Slot reservations

The steel-cutting ceremony in South Korea followed QatarEnergy's 2020 decision to enter into Ship Slot Reservation Agreements with three Korean shipyards: SHI, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

Subsequently, in 2022, QatarEnergy signed multiple time-charter parties with various shipowners, including the shipping unit of JP Morgan Asset Management, a fund investing in a wide array of energy transportation assets.

Qatar has two expansion projects, the North Field East (NFE) joint venture and the North Field South (NFS) venture. When both are completed Qatar's production will surge to 126 MTPA from the current 77 MTPA.

The carrier fleet expansion programme is being conducted alongside and about 80 LNG vessels are being built, including the replacement of older ships in the current Qatari fleet.

The surge in LNG newbuilds for Qatar and other proejcts will take the global fleet in several years to more than 800 vessels.

The main South Korean shipbuilders won all the first big round of Qatari orders so that the vessels are ready for the start-up of the first production expansion project, the North Field East venture.

China newbuilds

Qatar has also ordered at least half a dozen new LNG carriers from the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group of Shanghai for the Ras Laffan expansion’s cargo transportation.

While QatarEnergy's partners in the LNG production expansions are primarily US and European energy majors, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., the Chinese major known as Sinopec, also agreed in April 2023 to take a stake in the NFE expansion.

Sinopec had already signed a cargo supply deal with QatarEnergy in November 2022 to receive 4 MTPA of Qatari cargoes from 2026.

With a total investment of $28.75 billion, the NFE project will increase Qatar's annual LNG export volumes in the first instance from 77 MTPA to 110 MTPA.

Sinopec signed an equity participation agreement with QatarEnergy to take 1.25 percent of the shares in the NFE joint venture. 

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company for shipping and onshore, said the Supreme Court of Korea rejected GTT's appeal on licence and technical assistance deals with South Korean shipyards.

The Paris-based company had appealed against the decision of the Seoul High Court confirming the company's obligation to separate, in whole or in part, the “Technology License and the Technical Assistance” agreements if requested by the South Korean shipyards it has dealings with.

GTT had filed its appeal against the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) decision in December 2022.

“GTT acknowledges this very surprising decision, which comes only three months after the decision of the same Supreme Court of Korea to suspend the effects of the decision of the Seoul High Court,” said GTT.

The French company said it considered that its provision of technical assistance and engineering services “were essential to ensure the safety and performance” of its solutions and that its “unique expertise” was crucial to the safety of LNG maritime transport.

Defending interests

“Convinced of the sound basis of its contractual provisions, GTT is still committed to defending its interests and those of the entire LNG industry, and is considering the most appropriate actions to be taken in order to maintain its rights,” stated the Paris-based company.

“The company does not anticipate any significant financial impact in the short or medium term,” it added.

The KFTC in December 2022 had ordered GTT to allow the Korean shipyards, upon their request, to perform all or part of the technical assistance services currently included in the technology licenses and to pay €9.5 million ($10.40M) as an administrative fine.

The loss of the Korea appeal comes as GTT continues to expand its relationships with Chinese companies and shipyards where it has similar accords and is building the LNG tanks storage technology business.

On the occasion of the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron’s to Beijing on April 6, 2023, PipeChina Engineering Technology Innovation Co. signed a cooperation agreement for the evaluation and further promotion of GTT’s membrane containment tank technology for LNG projects in China.

PipeChina Group is currently operating seven LNG receiving terminals in China and three new LNG import projects are under construction.

As the largest operator of LNG infrastructure in China, PipeChina said it was keen to expand its cooperation with GTT.

Adnan Ezzarhouni, General Manager of GTT China, explained that GTT had already delivered onshore tanks to the Chinese.

These were for a peak-shaving project at Hejian in Hebei province, operated by Huagang Gas, as well as Phase I of the giant Beijing Gas Tianjin-Nangang onshore LNG terminal and the company was seeking additional contracts.

GTT has major collaborations with major Chinese shipyards such as Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp., and Jiangnan Shipbuilding located northeast of Shanghai on Changxing Island at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Of the top ship-owning nations, the Greeks continue to outperform the nation’s size with a fleet ranked third globally behind Japan and China respectively in both the number of vessels and the total value, though Greece’s fleet value has been augmented by an increasing number of quality LNG carriers.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company for ships and onshore, has signed a technical assistance and licensing agreement for the construction of GTT membrane containment systems with Hong Kong-headquartered China Merchants Heavy Industries.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has awarded TMC Compressors (TMC) a contract to deliver marine compressed air systems to four GasLOG LNGCs currently under construction.

July 22 (LNGJ) - Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, South Korea’s third-largest shipbuilder and a leading construction yard for LNG carriers, is on the verge of ending a dispute with contracted workers that has disrupted work at the Goeje facility in South Gyeongsang province and cost the company more than $400 million as of July 21.

   DSME said the construction of eight vessels at five docks at the shipyard has been hampered with delivery dates pushed back by two to five weeks. The union representing the striking workers, the Korea Metal Workers’ Union, has now informed the company they were willing to end their strike and accept a previously offered wage increase if lawsuits seeking damages from the strikers were dropped.

South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering has won $4 billion in orders so far in 2022, including eight LNG carriers, six containerships, one offshore platform and one depot maintenance order.

DSME added that the six containerships ordered this year have a specification for dual-fuel capability.

The latest DSME orders included three LNG carriers for the Americas after the company previously said there had been two LNG carrier orders worth 521 billion South Korean won ($428M).

The yard has now added one more vessel for the order list from the Americas, taking the total for the region to 863.5Bln Korean won ($710M).

“These LNG ships will be built at the Okpo Shipyard and delivered to the owner by the end of 2025,” said DSME.

GasLog Ltd, the Greek LNG shipping company, has also ordered LNG carrier from DSME in 2022.

GasLog is currently expanding its fleet and has ordered four newbuild 174,000 cubic metres capacity vessels for delivery in 2024 and 2025.

DSME, which is the world’s fourth largest shipbuilder, had an order backlog of $10.86Bln because of increased demand for valued-added vessels, such as LNG carriers and very large containerships with dual-fuel propulsion.

The latest three LNG carrier orders for the Americas will be of 174,000 cubic metres capacity.

The yard added that they would also be equipped with the latest generation M-type Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection (ME-GI) propulsion system.

DSME said it was also fitting a more advanced re-liquefaction system.

“The yard’s other smart energy saving systems, such as the Shaft Generator Motor and their Lubrication System, are representative of eco-friendly new technologies that can improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon-dioxide and sulfur-oxide emissions,” added the DSME statement.

Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) the world's biggest shipbuilder by order backlog, has secured deals to build five vessels, including LNG-powered containerships, a week after the European Commission vetoed the nation’s huge shipbuilding merger between Hyundai and Daewoo.