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NAKILAT AND QATARGAS NAME TEN OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST LNG CARRIERS
February 6th, 2009 SOUTH KOREA South Korea, February 6th, 2009 - Nakilat and vessel charterer Qatargas Operating Company Ltd. proudly announce the naming of ten of the world’s largest LNG carriers at three separate naming ceremony celebrations to be held in South Korea’s biggest shipyards. 
The first celebration took place today at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. shipyard in Ulsan where three Q-Flex were named. The first ship “Al Rekayyat” was named by Mrs. Asma Ali Al-Khulaifi, spouse of Mr. Ahmed Al-Khulaifi, Chief Operating Officer – Commercial and Shipping Group, Qatargas. The second vessel, “Al Kharaitiyat” was named by Mrs. Lucy Rowland, spouse of Mr. Martin Rowland, Director, Joint Ventures, Nakilat, while the third ship “Mesaimeer” was officially named by Ms. Kathryn Turner, member of the Board of Directors of ConocoPhillips. A second ceremony will take place on February 9th at Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. shipyard on Geoje Island where four LNG carriers, one Q-Flex and three Q-Max ships will be named. LNG Carrier “Mekaines” will be named by Mrs. Maryam Al-Suwaidi, spouse of Mr. Faisal Al-Suwaidi, Chief Executive Officer, Qatargas and Mr. Faisal Al-Suwaidi will name “Al Ghashamiya”. The third vessel, “Al Mayeda” will be named by Sheikha Noof Bint Mohammad Al-Thani, spouse of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Thani, Chief Operating Officer – Engineering and Ventures Group, Qatargas and the fourth vessel, “Al Mafyar” will be named by Mrs. Patricia Watson Copeland, spouse of Mr. James E. Copeland, member of the Board of Directors of ConocoPhillips. “Al Mayeda”, “Mekaines” and “Al Mafyar” are Q-Max ships and “Al Ghashamiya” is a Q-Flex. The third and final ceremony will take place on February 11th at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. shipyard also on Geoje Island where three more Q-Flex’s will be named. The first ship “Al Sheehaniya” will be named by Mrs. Fiona J. Johnston, spouse of Mr. Kerr Johnston, Chief Operating Officer, Qatargas 3 Venture. The second vessel “Al Sadd’ will be named by Mrs. Ouassila Belmahdi, spouse of Mr. Taieb Belmahdi, LNG Expert, Office of H.E. the Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy & Industry, Qatar Petroleum and the third, “Onaiza” will be named by Mrs. Deborah Abujbara spouse of Mr. Alaa Abujbara, Marketing Director, Qatargas. Mr. Faisal Al-Suwaidi, Chief Executive Officer, Qatargas said; “There is an increasing global demand for cleaner sources of energy and Qatar LNG will bring the benefits of energy diversity to our customers. The Q-Max vessels are the largest in the world and this scale advantage allows Qatargas to supply and compete in new markets world-wide.” He continued by saying, “We would like to thank each of the shipyards, our Qatargas teams and everyone involved for their outstanding efforts in maintaining the delivery schedule of these ships while keeping safety a continuous priority”. Mr. Muhammad Ghannam, Managing Director, Nakilat said; “Nakilat has achieved many important milestones since our ship building program started just a few short years ago and today is no exception with ten of the world’s largest LNG carriers being named over the next several days. During the next year and a half, all of our 25 wholly-owned new LNG ships, 14 Q-Max and 11 Q-Flex, will be fully operational. These twenty-five vessels, along with our 29 jointly-owned ships are part of our 54 vessel fleet built by the Korean shipyards. Thirty-two of these LNG carriers will be dedicated to Qatargas.” Qatargas 3 shareholders are Qatar Petroleum, ConocoPhillips and Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
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