LNG

Delivery of 17 LNG carrier newbuildings tied to the TotalEnergies-led 12.8 mtpa Mozambique LNG project has been delayed, with shareholders asking shipyards Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries to defer declaration dates to September 2026.

Malaysian state energy company Petronas said the company was expanding its LNG fleet by three vessels to handle cargoes from the LNG Canada export project in British Colombia where Petronas is a shareholder.

June 27 (LNGJ) - French LNG storage tanks designer GTT has received an order from the South Korean shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries for tanks to be fitted on a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) on behalf of the Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines.

   GTT said it would design the tanks of this FSRU for a total capacity of 170,000 cubic metres. The tanks will be fitted with the Mark III membrane containment system developed by GTT. The delivery of this FSRU is scheduled for the third quarter of 2027.

QatarEnergy, the leading global LNG producer and with three growth projects being developed has signed time-charter party (TCP) agreements with Qatar Gas Transport Co. (Nakilat) for the operation of 25 conventional-size LNG vessels as part of the second shipowner tender under Qatar’s LNG fleet expansion programme.

The agreements were signed in Doha by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and Chief Executive of QatarEnergy and Abdullah Al-Sulaiti, the CEO of Nakilat.

A statement said that 17 of the 25 LNG vessels are being constructed at the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) shipyard in South Korea, while the remaining eight are being constructed at Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, also in South Korea.

“These agreements firm up last month’s selection of Nakilat as the owner and operator of up to 25 conventional-size LNG carriers, underscoring our continued confidence in Qatar’s flagship LNG shipping and maritime company,” said Al-Kaabi.

“This is a testament to Nakilat’s world-class capabilities as well as to the significant contributions of Qatari listed companies to our country’s national economy,” he explained.

“The agreements we signed today play an important role in implementing QatarEnergy’s historic LNG shipping programme, which will cater for our future requirements, as we move forward with the expansion of our LNG production capacity to 142 million tonnes per annum by 2030,” Al-Kaabi stated.

Each of the 25 vessels will have a capacity of 174,000 cubic metres and will be chartered out by Nakilat to affiliates of QatarEnergy pursuant to the 15-year TCP agreements.

Liquefaction surge

Qatar announced at the end of February 2024 that it was going ahead with a third huge expansion called the North Field West (NFW) project to take overall output to 142 MTPA by the end of the decade.

The NFW joint venture will add to production expansions already under way with the North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) LNG projects.

The current NFE ramp-up of QatarEnergy’s liquefaction capacity will take production from 77 MTPA to 110 MTPA by 2027.

The second phase, called the NFS venture, will further increase the LNG output capacity from 110 MTPA to 126 MTPA.

The new NFW project will be developed to take production to 142 MTPA.

Overall the three expansions will put into production a total of eight LNG mega-Trains, each with nameplate capacity of around 8 MTPA and total additional nameplate capacity of just over 64 MTPA.

French liquefied natural gas storage technology firm Gaztranzport and Technigaz (GTT) said it received an order from the Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (SOE) group for the tank design for two LNG carriers and a Very Large Ethane Carrier.

Wood, the London-listed energy engineering and consulting company formerly known as John Wood Group Plc, has secured a contract from South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries for detailed engineering of the topsides facilities on LNG operator Woodside Energy's Trion Floating Production Unit (FPU) to be deployed in Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

South Korean shipbuilders, the global leaders in the construction of liquefied natural gas carriers, ranked second in 2023 in terms of new global orders for all types of vessels for a third straight year, though increased their share of the LNG newbuilds market.

South Korean shipbuilders are still leading their Chinese counterparts in orders for liquefied natural gas carriers, though China’s yards are well ahead in overall orders for newbuilds even as the shipbuilding market was weaker than in 2022.

Nov 8 (LNGJ) - Capital Gas Ship Management Corp., the LNG fleet owner headquartered in the Greek port of Piraeus, has taken delivery of its latest newbuild LNG carrier, the “Amore Mio I”. The ship with 174,000 cubic metres capacity was built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea.

   Capital Gas said that the carrier is the eighth of the 18 most modern LNG vessels that will be delivered to the company through 2027. The “Amore Mio I” is powered by MAN-MEGA engines and equipped with the latest available technologies, including an air lubrication system, shaft generators and an increased filling limits above 99 percent. “The vessel represents the vanguard of the new generation of LNG carriers, setting an industry benchmark with its exceptionally low environmental impact,” the company said.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French liquefied natural gas storage technology company, has received an order from China for five very large LNG-powered containerships to be constructed in South Korea.