Report: New FSRUs Needed to Support Hoegh LNG, Nakilat Gas Projects

The recently coined cooperation between Hoegh LNG and Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) is likely to result in the construction of new floating natural gas import terminals, according to Hoegh LNG’s CEO Sveinung Stohle cited by Reuters.

The parties said that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the cooperation on Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) business on July 18.

According to Stohle, the duo is looking into FSRU opportunities in South America and South East Asia.

“The cooperation with Qatar’s LNG shipping company will require new terminals to be built,” once the projects currently under review are finalized, Stohle is cited as saying.

The idea behind the cooperation is finding new markets for Qatari’s LNG, which is the world’s biggest exporter of natural gas.

Qatar is eager to retain its position as the world’s key exporter of LNG especially in light of the dispute with its neighbors ongoing since early June.

To that end, Qatar Petroleum announced its intention to raise Qatar’s LNG production from 77 million to 100 million tons per year, bolstering its production capacity by 30%.

However, based on initial estimates the crisis did not influence the LNG shipping sector, as the majority of Qatari LNG is not sold to its Gulf neighbors but Asian countries such as India, China, South Korea and Japan.

What is more, the country is faced with mounting pressure from the US and Australia which have been ramping up their LNG production efforts.

World Maritime News has contacted Hoegh LNG for a comment on the matter and is yet to receive a reply.

World Maritime News Staff