South Korean shipbuilders said yesterday that they are in talks with Exxon Mobil on win a multi-billion dollar deal to build liquefied-natural gas (LNG) carriers from the global energy giant.
Exxon has been looking for suppliers of 28 LNG carriers worth US$4 billion over the next three years, South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's biggest shipbuilder, said in a statement.
Hyundai Heavy and its local competitors, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries, confirmed they were all in separate contacts with Exxon for the deal.
"It's such a mega deal that one shipbuilder is not enough to meet Exxon's demands," Ah Ik-hyun, a Daewoo Shipbuilding spokes-man, said.
Daewoo is capable of building eight LNG carriers per year, Samsung up to seven and Hyundai up to six, according to data from the companies.
To enhance the chances of winning the Exxon deal, Hyundai Heavy is seeking to double its capacity for building LNG carriers to 12 per year, vice chairman and chief executive officer Min Keh-sik told the Maeil Business Newspaper in Seoul.
"We are in talks with Exxon Mobil for a package deal with the condition of delivering a total of 28 LNG carriers within three years," Min was quoted as saying.
"We are planning to expand our shipbuilding capacity to the level of supplying up to 12 LNG carriers per year," he added.
South Korea overtook Japan to become the world's largest shipbuilder last year with over 40 percent of the global market, government data here showed.
Separately, Singapore said yesterday it is considering building the city-state's first LNG terminal as a way of meeting its long-term power needs.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry said a feasibility study to be commissioned over the next one to two months will determine the project's economic viability.
The Straits Times reported yesterday the project could cost at least S$1 billion (US$588 million) and take five years to build.
A ministry spokeswoman said a decision on the project would be made "in due course," following the feasibility study, but she highlighted the benefits of an LNG terminal for Singapore.
"This will be a project to position ourselves to meet Singapore's long-term energy needs," the spokeswoman said in an
e-mail.
"There may be opportunities to tap LNG to meet future growth in energy demand and create new economic activities from managing the LNG business," the spokeswoman wrote.
The Straits Times said the feasibility study is expected to list at least two sites where the terminal can be housed and will estimate Singapore's gas usage up to 2030.
Singapore currently buys natural gas mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia.
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