Adnoc Logistics & Services, a unit of UAE’s energy giant Adnoc, has ordered eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from South Korean shipbuilders Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean.
Each of the shipbuilding deals include four firm vessels and one optional LNG carrier for a total of 10 vessels, Adnoc L&S said on Monday.
The shipbuilding deals are worth $2.5 billion (AED 9.2 billion), according to the company.
Also, the LNG carriers will each have a capacity of 174,000 cbm and feature MEGA and
XDF2.2 engines.
The vessels are expected to be delivered beginning 2028 and will be time chartered to Adnoc Group subsidiaries for a period of 20 years, it said.
Adnoc L&S said the new vessels will increase the company’s fleet of LNG carriers from 14 to at least 22 vessels.
Last month, Adnoc L&S confirmed that it has signed letters of intent with the two shipbuilders to construct at least 10 newbuild LNG carriers.
The firm said at the time that Samsung Heavy will build at least three LNG carriers with options for at least two additional LNG carriers, while Hanwha Ocean will also build at least three LNG carriers with options for at least two additional LNG carriers.
This means that Adnoc L&S added two more firm vessels.
Samsung Heavy and Hanwha Ocean also announced the new deals in separate fillings to the stock exchange.
Each of the shipbuilders said they will build four LNG carriers for a Middle East owner for about $1.04 billion, or about $259 million per vessel.
Samsung Heavy said it will deliver the ships by August 2028, while Hanwha Ocean said it will deliver the ships by October 2028.
Adnoc’s LNG expansion
State-owned Adnoc recently took a final investment decision to build its LNG export terminal in Al Ruwais, and it also awarded the $5.5 billion EPC deal to a joint venture led by France’s Technip Energies.
The LNG project will consist of two 4.8 mtpa trains with a total capacity of 9.6 mtpa, more than doubling Adnoc’s existing UAE LNG production capacity to around 15 mtpa, as the company builds its international LNG portfolio.
These new LNG carriers are expected to serve the Ruwais LNG facility which is scheduled to start operations in 2028.
Adnoc currently owns a 70 percent stake in Adnoc LNG, that currently produces about 6 mtpa of LNG from its facilities on Das Island.
Adnoc L&S’s existing fleet of Moss-type, steam turbine LNG carriers serves its terminal on Das Island.
The company is already working to renew its fleet of LNG carriers and it has six 175,000-cbm vessels on order at China’s Jiangnan Shipyard worth more than $1.2 billion.
Adnoc L&S is expected to take delivery of the first vessel in this batch in December this year and the rest of the ships in 2025 and 2026.
Besides the decision on the Ruwais LNG plant, Adnoc announced two international LNG investments in May.
Adnoc will buy an 11.7 percent stake in the first phase of NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG export terminal in Texas from Global Infrastructure Partners.
Adnoc and NextDecade also entered into a 20-year LNG offtake agreement for the fourth Rio Grande LNG train.
The firm has also agreed to buy Galp’s 10 percent interest in the Area 4 concession of the Rovuma basin in Mozambique, which includes Eni’s Coral South FLNG project.