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Qatar Fuel (WOQOD) and Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat) have signed an agreement under which WOQOD will provide marine lubricants and technical services to Nakilat's fleet of 25 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Carriers, currently under construction in Korea.

In a separate agreement, WOQOD will team up with Shell Marine Products (Shell) to become Shell's exclusive marine lubricants dealer in Qatar, in a partnership that will ensure that marine lubricants are available in the rapidly growing Qatari market and from WOQOD to the Nakilat vessels abroad.

WOQOD said that it will supply both the initial fill volumes required by shipyards prior to delivery of each Nakilat vessel and the top up volumes required for operations by the fleet on a global basis. It is anticipated that WOQOD will also provide marine lubricants under the agreement to the four LPG Carriers owned and operated by Gulf LPG Transport, a joint venture between Nakilat and Q-Ship.

To serve Nakilat and other Qatari marine lubricants customers, WOQOD said that it will develop and operate the necessary infrastructure at Qatari ports and be responsible for sales and marketing.

Future WOQOD infrastructure is expected to include bulk tanks, barges, and pack product storage facilities at Ras Laffan Industrial City port. Under the terms of the partnership, Shell will also provide logistics, technical and HSSE support to WOQOD to enable reliable and consistent delivery of their product range to vessels calling in these developing ports.

The agreement between WOQOD and Nakilat was signed by Mohamed Khalifa Turki Al-Sobai, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of WOQOD and Muhammad Ghannam, Managing Director of Nakilat. Andy Brown, Country Chairman of Shell in Qatar signed the agreement with WOQOD.

Commenting on the agreement, Al-Sobai said "The demands from the enormous shipping operations now underway in Qatar, especially at Ras Laffan Industrial City Port, merit a unique partnership such as this.

"WOQOD's aspiration is to develop a world-class marine lubricants and services business capable of effectively servicing Qatar's ports. To achieve this, we were convinced we had to join forces with a world leader in the industry. We chose Shell because of their rich experience, competitiveness and leading market position."

Ghannam said "The awarding of the marine lubricants contract for our LNG carriers is significant because it is another essential component in the sophisticated integration of support services required to ensure that the Qatar LNG Fleet is ready to safely, reliably and efficiently transport over 30% of the world's LNG around the globe by 2010". Brown added "We are delighted to have signed these milestone agreements with WOQOD in support of shipping in Qatar. Under the wise guidance of His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, the nation has a rapidly-growing economy, and in particular is consolidating its position as the global leader in Liquefied Natural Gas and Gas-to-Liquids.

"This growth demands large-scale marine operations, and high quality marine lubricants and services. Shell is committed to support Qatar as it builds its position on the global energy stage, and these agreements today are part of that. The agreement serves to underline the growing importance of Qatar in Shell's global network of over 730 ports in 70 countries."