Maxi Order from QatarEnergy in China: 18 Methane Carriers Worth 6 Billion Dollars
Each of the largest methane carriers in the world will be able to transport up to 271,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas
The safe transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is becoming increasingly popular around the world, and one of the world’s largest producers of this clean-burning fuel, energy company QatarEnergy, on April 29 signed a $6 billion contract with the Chinese shipbuilder China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) to build 18 Q-Max LNG series LNG carriers. According to a QatarEnergy press release, “the signing of the agreement took place in Beijing between Qatar’s Minister of Energy Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who serves as both president and CEO of QatarEnergy, and Chen Jianliang, president of Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, one of the subsidiaries of state-owned CSSC.” Eight of the 18 ships will be delivered in 2028 and 2029, while the remaining ten will leave their berths in China in 2030 and 2031.
In his speech after signing the contract, Al-Kaabi said that “with the total cost of these 18 state-of-the-art LNG carriers, the world’s largest LNG carriers, at nearly $6 billion, the agreement we signed today is the largest shipbuilding contract in the history of the industry.” Each of the vessels will be built at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard and will have a record capacity of 271,000 cubic meters of LNG. Currently, the largest methane tankers in the world are Q-Max, also manufactured by QatarEnergy, about 345 meters long and with a capacity of 263,000-266,000 m3.
Qatar is one of the world’s largest LNG producers, along with the USA, Australia, and Russia. In 2022, QatarEnergy and Chinese energy company Sinopec signed a long-term LNG supply contract extended to 2050. Under the agreement, QatarEnergy will supply China with 4 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year, with the value of the deal estimated at $60 billion.
