Against the backdrop of a profound restructuring of the global LNG supply system, QatarEnergy is advancing its long-term LNG fleet strategy into a concentrated realization phase at an unprecedented pace.
During the LNG2026 conference, QatarEnergy’s CEO, Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, disclosed that the company has initiated the largest LNG shipbuilding program in the industry’s history, covering a total of 128 new-generation LNG carriers. Currently, 38 ships have been delivered, with new vessels joining the fleet at a rate of “one every three weeks.” In the coming years, its LNG fleet size will approach 200 ships, placing it among the world’s largest LNG shipowners.
This fleet expansion is not a short-term move but a core component of QatarEnergy’s long-term strategy, the “Hundred-Ship Plan,” launched in 2019.
In 2019, with the full launch of the North Field expansion project and the advancement of the Golden Pass LNG project in the US in cooperation with ExxonMobil, QatarEnergy’s demand for LNG transportation capacity rapidly increased. The company formally proposed the “Hundred-Ship Plan,” aiming to build a stable and controllable shipping foundation for LNG exports over the coming decades by securing large-scale, long-term shipping capacity.
In the first phase (2019–2022), QatarEnergy, in collaboration with nine shipowners, ordered a total of 66 LNG carriers with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, accounting for 19.0% of the global new LNG ship orders during that period (by vessel count). In terms of shipbuilding landscape, South Korean shipyards remained dominant, with the three major yards securing a combined 54 orders: Hanwha Ocean (19), Samsung Heavy Industries (18), and HD Hyundai (17). Among Chinese shipyards, Hudong-Zhonghua secured 12 orders, becoming the sole Chinese shipyard participating in this phase.
Entering the second phase (2023 to present), the concentration and dominance of the “Hundred-Ship Plan” have become even more apparent. QatarEnergy, in collaboration with seven shipowners, placed new orders for 62 LNG carriers, accounting for 65.3% of global LNG ship orders during the same period, almost “locking up” the global newbuild LNG ship market.
Notably, during this phase, the order structure showed a clear divergence: South Korea’s three major shipyards continued to receive orders for conventional 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers, totaling 44 ships (HD Hyundai 17, Samsung Heavy Industries 15, Hanwha Ocean 12). Meanwhile, the Chinese shipyard Hudong-Zhonghua secured orders for 18 ultra-large LNG carriers of 271,000 cubic meters, becoming a core builder of this vessel type globally.
Within the global LNG trade system, QatarEnergy’s role is undergoing a structural transformation. With the progress of the North Field expansion project, Qatar’s annual LNG production capacity will increase from 77 million tons to 160 million tons, contributing approximately 40% of the world’s new LNG supply in the coming decade. Upstream expansion on such a scale necessitates the establishment of a highly autonomous and long-term controllable shipping system in the transportation segment.
In essence, the “Hundred-Ship Plan” is a crucial lever for QatarEnergy’s deeper integration into shipping. By preemptively securing large-scale newbuild shipping capacity, the company not only effectively hedges against potential future tightness and freight rate volatility in the LNG shipping market but also creates a powerful “anchoring effect” in the global LNG carrier market. This profoundly influences shipowners’ investment decisions, shipyard capacity allocation, and the cyclical rhythm of the LNG shipping market.
From the perspective of the shipping market, QatarEnergy’s continuous ordering has become one of the most critical sources of demand in the LNG carrier market in recent years. From the shipbuilding industry’s perspective, the “Hundred-Ship Plan” has, to a considerable extent, reshaped the competitive landscape between Chinese and South Korean shipbuilders in the LNG carrier sector.
As new vessels are continuously delivered and expansion projects gradually come online, QatarEnergy’s LNG-centric integrated layout of “resources–transportation–end-users” is entering an accelerated formation stage. Its impact on the global LNG shipping landscape continues to amplify.
