Nakilat, a Qatar-based LNG transport company, has signed an agreement with McDermott to form a joint-venture (JV) company to offer offshore and onshore fabrication services in Qatar.
Image: The new joint-venture is being established at a time when Qatar targets to localize its energy sector’s supply chain. Photo: Courtesy of Nakilat.
The LNG transport company said that the strategic partnership targets increasing productivity levels at Nakilat’s advanced Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard and developing local construction capabilities.
The partnership is aimed at supporting the increasing demand for the construction of offshore and onshore structures in Qatar.
The agreement was signed during the launch of the Tawteen program in the presence of Qatar Petroleum Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi.
Nakilat said that the establishment of new joint venture is aligned with Qatar’s newly launched localization program. The program is designed to enhance the resilience of the energy sector’s supply chain and aims at creating new investment opportunities within the energy sector.
Nakilat chief executive officer Abdullah Al-Sulaiti said: “We are proud to be partnering with McDermott, who are leaders in the field of EPCI projects, as part of our business diversification strategy and to better support the country’s ambition to be one of the leading energy producers and exporters in the world.
“This venture comes as part of our strategy to diversify our portfolio, which will contribute towards the advancement of the Qatari economy and support the country’s ambition to be the leading exporter of clean energy.”
The new joint-venture is being established at a time when Qatar targets to localize its energy sector’s supply chain and increase its liquefied natural gas production from 77 to 110million tons per annum.
Offering a ranges of services, the project is expected to support Nakilat and its joint ventures to undertake the construction, maintenance, repair and refurbishment of offshore and onshore structures, and all types of vessels.
Operating from Nakilat’s shipyard in Ras Laffan, the joint venture will have extensive fabrication areas and facilities such as a 270-metre construction hall and a 180-metre assembly workshop featuring four bays.
With the facilities, the venture will be capable of serving the growing demand for offshore and onshore modular construction locally in Qatar.
McDermott Middle East and North Africa senior vice president, Linh Austin said: “We are very pleased to see this joint venture come to fruition. This extension of our longstanding relationship with Nakilat is a natural continuation of McDermott’s history of successful project execution in Qatar and will enable both companies to utilize synergies and build on the combined strength of our respective organizations for the benefit of our customers.”