Qatar wants to become a global gas power by investing in "hundreds of ships" that can transport liquefied natural gas (LNG), said Qatar's energy minister on Tuesday.
The Gulf country is in the process of building up "the largest fleet of ships in the world" to export LNG, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who is also the president and CEO of QatarEnergy, told German daily Bild.
The equivalent of €20 billion ($20.7 billion) was invested in the fleet, which is currently being built in China and South Korea. There will be "hundreds of ships" that would make Qatar a global gas power, he added.
Earlier in the day, al-Kaabi signed a contract with Germany which would annually transport 2 million tons of LNG to the European country effective 2026.
"This is the first deal we've ever made in Germany. As you know, there is no (LNG) terminal in Germany. A new one is being built," he said.
"If you look at the total consumption, this corresponds to around 3% of German gas consumption," he added.
QatarEnergy and German utility firms had reportedly been involved in tough negotiations on a LNG deal for much of this year as Berlin looks to replace Russia, which is Germany's biggest gas supplier.
Germany which mainly depends on natural gas for its economy, hopes to substitute all Russian energy imports as early as the middle of 2024.
