French LNG containment giant GTT has opened a new office in Doha, Qatar’s capital and economic hub.
GTT’s chairman Philippe Berterottiere, CEO Jean-Baptiste Choimet, and guests from QatarEnergy, QatarEnergy LNG, Nakilat, and others attended the opening ceremony, according to a social media post by GTT on Thursday.
The French firm said this strategic expansion strengthens the company’s commitment to supporting its partners and clients in Qatar and also in the Middle East region.
GTT booked tank design orders for 68 LNG carriers in January-September of this year.
The company received orders for 73 LNG carriers last year, down from record 162 orders for LNG carriers in 2022 and higher than 68 orders in 2021.
A big part of these orders are related to QatarEnergy’s massive shipbuilding program.
Including QC-Max LNG carriers, QatarEnergy’s shipbuilding program entails the construction of 128 vessels.
In September, QatarEnergy ordered six additional 271,000-cbm LNG carriers from CSSC’s Hudong-Zhonghua for about $2 billion, boosting the total to 24 QC-Max LNG carriers.
In March, QatarEnergy said it had completed the conventional-size vessels portion of the shipbuilding program, bringing the total number of ships for which it signed time charter parties to 104.
These 104 vessels will be constructed by South Korean yards and Hudong-Zhonghua. All of them will feature GTT’s containment tech.