Qatar Gas Transport Co  (Nakilat), the world's largest shipper of liquefied natural gas (LNG), reported a 15.7 percent increase in second-quarter profit compared to the same period last year, beating analysts' expectations.

Nakilat posted a second-quarter profit of 192.71 million Qatari riyals ($52.91 million) , according to Reuters calculations, compared to 166.5 million riyals in the same period last year.

Two analysts polled by Reuters on average forecast quarterly profit of 181 million riyals. The company made a net profit of 381.2 million riyals in the first half of the year, it said in a statement posted on the bourse website. No further details were given in the statement explaining the results.

Nakilat began a $6.8 billion financing programme in 2006 to fund construction of 25 LNG ships at South Korean shipyards. The company last year completed its fleet of more than 50 owned and part-owned special LNG carrier vessels, giving it over 16 percent of the world's LNG shipping fleet.

The source of the gas is Qatar's North Field, which contains 15 percent of proven world gas reserves. Qatar, the top global LNG exporter, has the world's third-largest gas reserves behind Russia and Iran. - Reuters