Photo: Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd.

A subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) on Wednesday landed China's biggest shipbuilding order to date, a contract with Qatar Petroleum (QP) worth 20 billion yuan ($2.82 billion) for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers of 174,000 cubic meters.

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group, a subsidiary of CSSC, held a cloud signing ceremony with QP due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

China's shipbuilding industry has advanced management capability, an industry insider said.

And Hudong-Zhonghua is an experienced shipbuilder as it has built more than 3,000 various ships, including LNG carriers and oil tankers for numerous global shipping companies and navies, according to the company.

It also launched the second Type 075 amphibious assault ship in China on Wednesday.

The buyer, QP, announced on Wednesday that the agreement will reserve LNG ship construction capacity in China, utilized for QP's future LNG carrier fleet requirements. QP's LNG carrier fleet program is the largest of its kind in the LNG industry. 

"After having quit OPEC, Qatar's core strategy now is to develop natural gas," Qu Xinrong, a senior research fellow of the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

QP has vowed to expand its LNG capacity and market share despite the global pandemic turmoil, which has been supported by a series of major investments.

The Qatar energy company announced on April 15 the start of a development drilling campaign for its North Field East project, the first phase of which will increase Qatar's LNG production capacity from 77 million tons per annum (Mtpa) to 110 Mtpa, the company said.

QP also announced in February it had entered an agreement with French LNG terminal operator Elengy for receiving, storage and the regasification of LNG at the Montoir-de-Bretagne LNG Terminal in France.

"The global demand for natural gas in the future will be very high. It is a good strategy to seize the market amid the pandemic and energy market turmoil," said Qu.