Shipyards vie for Exxon Mobil mega LNG carriers contract

The energy company Exxon Mobil wants to buy 28 LNG carriers over the next three years valued at $4 billion. This is too many for one shipbuilder to be able to build and a number of South Korean shipbuilders said they are in talks with the company to win the multi-billion dollar deal to build the gas carriers over the next three years. The yards involved include Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries and they confirmed that they all are in separate negotiations with Exxon for the deal.

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, HHI is planning to double its annual capacity for building LNG carriers to 12 and the company is putting together a package deal with the condition of delivering a total of 28 LNG carriers within three years.