Qatargas' Mega LNG Ship Shuffle

摘要

Qatar is facing a growing glut of LNG shipping capacity, caused by several of its marquee gas projects falling months behind schedule, amid whispers of more severe delays to come. With four giant Q-Flex ships already delivered and four more scheduled to arrive this month, Doha has had to juggle its shipping programs to avoid leaving a brand new fleet of mega-tankers idle. The first batch of Q-Flex tankers, the largest LNG carriers in the world, was supposed to have arrived in time to transport LNG from the two 7.8 million ton per year Qatargas-2 trains, the first originally due for start-up in early 2008. But the first of these, Qatargas Train 4, is delayed at least six months until summer, while Train 5 has possibly slipped back into the second quarter of 2009 (WGI Nov.7,p8).