Doha, Qatar, 18th November 2006 Qatar Gas Transport Company Limited (Nakilat) has appointed Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell) to manage its fleet of at least 27 new LNG carriers. Under this 25 year deal, it is expected that operational management will be transferred to Nakilat within 12 years. The agreement will involve Shell providing a range of shipping services to Nakilat including ship management as well as the transfer of know how and expertise to allow Nakilat to develop its own LNG Ship Management Company in Qatar. This new fleet of LNG vessels, currently under construction, will be put into service over the next four years to transport product from four of Qatar’s major LNG projects: Qatargas II (Train 5), Qatargas 3 (Train 6), and, subject to the agreement of the JV partners, RasGas III (Train 7) and Qatargas 4 (Train 7). These vessels will have capacities of approximately 215,000 m3 and 265,000 m3. Faisal Al Suwaidi, Vice Chairman of Nakilat and CEO of Qatargas, said: “His Highness the Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, has set a clear strategy for the development of Qatar’s natural gas resources which has positioned the country to become the largest LNG supplier in the world by 2011. The shipping component of the value chain is critical to us if we are to meet this ambitious plan. Our aspiration is to develop a world-class centre of excellence for LNG shipping in Qatar. To achieve this, we knew we had to partner with a world leader in the industry. We chose Shell because we believe Shell has the track record, knowledge and skills to help us reach our goal.” Linda Cook, Executive Director, Shell Gas and Power said: “We are delighted to have been chosen as Nakilat’s partner and to support Qatar in their vision to build a first class shipping operation. We are honoured to be selected to provide a full range of services to Nakilat’s large fleet of new LNG carriers. Qatar is well positioned to be the world leader in LNG while Shell is already involved in over a quarter of all LNG cargoes delivered. Today’s agreement is aligned with our broader strategy of helping Qatar develop its natural gas resources and further strengthens a well-established relationship.”
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