Middle East liquefied natural gas producer Qatargas has been surprised by the take-up of its new giant Q-Flex LNG carriers in the market and is set to bring the first to the West next month.
Qatargas chief operating officer for commerical and shipping Ahmed Al-Khulaifi said the company has been "very lucky" in employing several of its new 210,000-cbm to 216,000-cbm vessels. "It is more than what we thought," he added.
Al-Khulaifi said about 70% employment has been secured for for the seven vessels delivered.
An eighth was handed over at the end of February.
He added that the first Q-Flex is set to pass through the Suez Canal en route to a western destination at the end of March.
So far, Q-Flex vessels have only been used to carry shipments to South Korea and Japan, with one unit currently storing a partial cargo for later delivery to Mexico.
This year, Qatargas is due to take delivery of 16 Q-Flexes and six Q-Maxes that together will add about 5 million cubic metres of capacity to the world fleet.
At least 23 Q-Flex and 14 Q-Max vessels have been ordered in total.
Al-Khulaifi said the naming ceremony for the first of the even larger Q-Max vessels, which at 266,000 cbm will top anything ever built in this sector, has been scheduled for mid-July. The first is due for delivery in August.
He added that Qatargas partners Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil plan to commission their South Hook LNG-receiving terminal near Milford Haven in South Wales during the third quarter.
South Hook is capable of accepting both Q-Flex and Q-Max vessels, which are being built specifically to lift Qatari cargoes.
Both South Hook's developers and neighbouring Dragon terminal partners BG Group, Petronas and 4Gas have been soft-pedalling the completion of their facilities in the current climate of low UK gas prices.
© Upstream 2008
