At the beginning of 2024, Qatari LNG shipping firm Nakilat had 74 vessels in its fleet. Six months later, it has signed contracts to build or charter-in 40 more newbuilds, bringing the total to 114 hulls in service and on order – an increase of more than 50 percent. It is an astonishingly rapid pace of growth in a high-capex sector, and it will facilitate Qatar’s plan to nearly double LNG export volume.  

In an uncertain world, Nakilat is a rare sure bet: it has the highest credit rating of any shipping company, Aa3 (Moody’s), and it has a firm contract backlog of nearly 900 years of work for its fleet. It is majority-owned by well-financed Qatari government entities, and is sitting on $715 million in cash. 

Nakilat is counting on rapid growth in global natural gas liquefaction capacity through the end of the decade. Within six years, energy companies will likely add another 200-300 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of export capacity, increasing the global total by at least half. Much of that increase will be in Qatar, where state gas  company QatarEnergy has exclusive access to 2,000 trillion cubic feet of reserves. QatarEnergy is accelerating production with new drilling and new liquefaction plants, and will increase its output of LNG by 85 percent by the end of the decade. Nakilat signed long-term charters with QatarEnergy for 34 new LNG carriers earlier this year. 

“Demand for the LNG transportation market is expected to increase worldwide,” said Nakilat CEO Abdullah Al Sulaiti. “2024 is a milestone year for Nakilat’s expansion projects, and our latest financial results, with an increase in net profit by seven percent, is a testament to the company’s two decades of global operational excellence.”