ADNOC L&S boosts LNG fleet with $900m newbuild deal in China

The Abu Dhabi-listed shipping and logistics arm of ADNOC said the 175,000 cu m vessels will be built at the Shanghai yard and delivered in 2029.   The agreement was signed during a visit by Sultan Al Jaber, ADNOC managing director and group chief executive officer, to Jiangnan.    The latest order takes ADNOC L&S’ LNG newbuilding programme to 18 vessels.

ADNOC L&S has already taken delivery of six 175,000 cu m LNG carriers from Jiangnan under a $1.2bn order placed in 2022. Five of those ships are deployed on contracts of up to 15 years with ADNOC Gas.   The company also has eight LNG carriers under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean in South Korea. Those vessels, backed by an investment of about $2.5bn, are due from 2028 and have been fixed on 20-year time charters to ADNOC Gas.   ADNOC L&S said the four latest Jiangnan newbuilds are expected to work on long-term charters.

The order comes days after ADNOC launched a new global LNG marketing and trading platform in Abu Dhabi, bringing together the LNG marketing activities of ADNOC Gas and XRG with ADNOC Trading.      The platform is targeting 47m tonnes per year of combined marketable LNG by 2035.

Abdulkareem Al Masabi, chief executive officer of ADNOC L&S, said the order reflected the company’s confidence in LNG shipping fundamentals and its push to connect supply with demand centres.

The company has committed more than $5bn to 32 vessels since 2022, with nine delivered and 23 still to come through 2029.