Keppel bids for Brazilian contract

Keppel Corp, the world’s largest maker of shallow-water oil rigs, is among six groups that have bid for contracts to build $1

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3 billion of oil and gas tankers for Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company

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The company’s transportation unit, Transpetro, will analyse the bids and decide on the winners by the end of March, said a spokeswoman for Transpetro, which conducted the bidding yesterday in Rio de Janeiro

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The tankers in the tender will have the capacity to transport between 10,000 and 200,000 tonnes of oil

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Transpetro aims to expand its fleet by hiring companies to build the ships in Brazil, as part of a plan to create about 20,000 local jobs and help the country revive its shipbuilding industry

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Keppel, which owns a shipyard in Rio de Janeiro, is bidding in partnership with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering

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