Shell and Qatar Petroleum set up LNG bunkering venture
The two energy providers are teaming up on LNG procurement and bunkering for the shipping industry. LNG bunkering infrastructure such as storage and bunker vessels will be put in place at various strategic locations around the world.
The two companies will have equal ownership in the new venture which aims to facilitate the sale of LNG as a marine fuel to end customers around the world.
SHELL and Qatar Petroleum will launch a joint venture that will offer bunkering of liquefied natural gas, adding to the growing reach of LNG as a fuel.
“The new company’s principal business activities will include the procurement of LNG, setting up LNG bunkering infrastructure (storage and bunker vessels) at various strategic locations around the world, and facilitating the sale of LNG as a marine fuel to end customers around the world,” Qatar Petroleum said in a statement.
The energy providers propped up the place of LNG as an alternative fuel in shipping’s search for emissions reductions. DNV GL recently projected that by 2050 LNG will be the single most important energy source for shipping.
LNG however, remains a fossil fuel and cannot, on its own, achieve the minimum 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 that international shipping has committed to achieving.