Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the minister of state for energy affairs, the president and CEO of QatarEnergy, detailed Monday the company’s shipbuilding programme, the largest in the industry’s history.
The company has launched the biggest shipbuilding programme, comprising of 128 LNG carriers, with 38 already delivered and one due to be handed every three weeks this year and beyond.
In the next few years, it is projected that the company will have one of the largest LNG carrier fleets in the world, reaching about 200 vessels.
Under the patronage, and in the presence, of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Amir of the State of Qatar, the 21st International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG2026) was inaugurated on Monday at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha and will continue until 5 February.
Speaking at the opening of the LNG2026, the minister Al-Kaabi pointed to QatarEnergy’s expansion projects, which will double Qatar’s LNG production, saying: “The mega-projects we have launched a few years ago will more than double QatarEnergy’s LNG production from 77 million tons per annum to 160 million tons per annum, including 142 million tons per annum from Qatar’s North Field. Hereby, our projects will contribute about 40% of the new global LNG supplies over the next decade.”
The minister provided an overview of the efforts to invest in expanding production, and storage, as well as emission reduction.
Highlighting the LNG transportation sector, he said: “We have launched the largest shipbuilding program in the industry’s history, comprising 128 state-of-the-art LNG carriers with outstanding operational and environmental standards. We have already received 38 new vessels and will receive a new one every three weeks. This will give QatarEnergy the largest LNG carrier fleet in the world, reaching about 200 vessels within the next few years.”
This conference is regarded as the world’s premier LNG event, providing Qatar with an important platform to showcase its achievements, and forward-looking vision for the pivotal role of LNG in supporting the global economy.
Delivering the conference’s opening address, the minister Al-Kaabi said: “It is a source of great pleasure to host this event at a time when QatarEnergy is emerging as a leading force in the energy sector in general, and in the LNG industry in particular, through its expanding role in meeting global energy markets needs and ensuring reliable supplies.”
The minister’s remarks came during a keynote dialogue session with the participation of the CEOs of international oil companies at the opening of the 21st International Liquefied Natural Gas Conference (LNG2026).
Al Kaabi said: “At QatarEnergy, in collaboration with our partners represented at this session, we are working to produce LNG to build the future with the lowest possible carbon footprint. Wherever there are areas for oil or gas exploration, you will find QatarEnergy working there.”
The minister recalled his long-expressed position that “we will need oil for a very long time,” adding that “people who two years ago were part of the culture of oil cancellation, now realize the need for oil and that it will not disappear in 2030 as they claimed.”
