Qatar Orders $3b of LNG Tankers

According to Trade Arabia, Qatar Gas Transport Co ordered $3b of natural LNG from South Korean companies including Hyundai Heavy Industries as the state prepares to triple exports of the fuel. Qatar Gas, the second-largest energy company on the Morgan Stanley Capital International Gulf Countries Index, ordered the 10 tankers for delivery in 2009, Muhammad Ghannam, the company's managing director said in Doha.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries are the other companies that won the order. Qatar Gas, or Nakilat as it is also known, will lease the vessels for 25 years. Qatar, the world's third-largest holder of natural gas reserves, is developing projects to triple exports of the fuel to 77 million tonnes a year as early as 2010, from a projected 25 million tonnes this year. That will make it the largest producer of the fuel, for which global demand is growing because it is cleaner to burn in power stations than oil or coal. Nakilat, in which 50 per cent of shares are traded on the Doha Securities Market, plans almost to double its fleet to 60 by 2009, from 28 now. With the latest agreement, it has 16 vessels on order.

Nakilat will use the 10 tankers to move LNG from the country's Qatargas 3 project, which is owned by Qatar Petroleum, ConocoPhillips and Mitsui.