Samsung Heavy Industries announced on June 2 that it has signed a deed of agreement with Qatar Petroleum (QP) to guarantee the right to order large-scale LNG carriers.
Samsung Heavy Industries CEO Nam Joon-woo and QP CEO and Qatar Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kabbi held an event to mark the signing of the agreement by connecting Seoul and Qatar by video on June 1.
According to the confidentiality agreement, the size of the slot contract was not disclosed, but the construction contract is expected to be carried out sequentially from this year to 2024 at the earliest.
With the signing of the agreement, Samsung Heavy Industries is one step closer to winning orders for large-scale LNG carriers to be used for gas fields in North Field Expansion (NFE) and Golden Pass, which are currently being developed by QP.
The North Field project is the world's largest LNG production project, which will produce 126 million tons of natural gas annually from 2027. As QP earlier said that orders for LNG projects and replacement of old ships in addition to the U.S. Golden Pass could increase significantly, the order momentum is known to be very strong.
An official of Samsung Heavy Industries said, "Samsung has successfully built 25 LNG carriers (worth $6 billion) since 2003 from Qatar. The QP LNG project will have a positive impact on other shipping companies considering building large-scale LNG carriers."
Meanwhile, Samsung Heavy Industries expects to receive orders for the remaining 10 of Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, which signed new contracts for five last year, and a number of LNG carriers within the year from the Mozambique LNG project.
