GLNG: QP strengthens Asian ties with pair of Chinese deals

State-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) has signed a pair of deals with Chinese companies in the last two weeks that highlight the role of Asian players in Doha’s expansion plans.
Last week, QP signed a 15-year sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to supply 3.5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG to a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC). The deal was signed with CNOOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing for delivery of cargoes beginning in January 2022.
Then this week QP kicked off the largest ever fleet expansion in the history of the LNG sector to cater to growing production. The company placed an order for the first four LNG carriers under this programme with Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group Co., a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC). The deal is the first with a Chinese shipyard and follows an April 2020 agreement with Hudong to reserve ship construction capacity. The contract is valued in excess of $770mn.
The deals come as QP develops its North Field Expansion (NFE) project to increase Qatar’s liquefaction capacity from 79mn tpy currently to 110mn tpy by 2025-26, and 126mn tpy by 2027. The company took a final investment decision (FID) on NFE – the world’s single largest LNG project – earlier this year.
Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and QP’s president and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi noted recently that two further LNG trains are likely to be announced in the first quarter of 2022, with QP expecting to add a total of 64mn tpy of LNG including the company’s participation in the Golden Pass project in the US.