QatarEnergy + Nakilat ink another long-term charter: Qatar’s state-owned energy player QatarEnergy and tanker operator Nakilat inked a long-term agreement to charter and operate nine QC-Max LNG ships, according to a statement released last week. The move comes as part of QatarEnergy’s drive to boost its LNG fleet. No investment ticket or timeline was disclosed as part of the statement.

Details: Nakilat will fully own and operate the vessels – each with a capacity of 271k cubic meters – which will be chartered QatarEnergy affiliates. The ships will be built at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua shipyards. The move takes Nakila’s total number of secured LNG vessels to 34 and comes on the heels of another time-charter party agreement inked in March for the operation of 25 conventional size LNG vessels.

QatarEnergy is doubling down on fleet expansion: The state-owned energy player is undergoing a historic fleet expansion drive in a bid to support boosted production from Qatar’s North Field, the statement said. QatarEnergy and Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua signed a USD 2.4 bn agreement in January for the construction of eight Q-Max LNG carriers, each with a carrying capacity of 271k cubic meters. The vessels – the largest ever built of their kind in capacity – are set to be delivered in 2028 and 2029. The firm also closed a QR 14.2 bn (USD 3.9 bn) agreement last September with Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for 17 “ultra-modern” LNG carriers.

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