Stena Carron drillship
'Korean yards will share Petrobras orders'
Shipbuilding and shipping conglomerate STX said it expected top South Korean shipyards to jointly win offshore project orders from Brazil's state-run oil company, Petrobras.
Leading domestic shipbuilders will share the Petrobras projects as the orders are too large for any single company to handle, the Reuters cited Kang Duk-soo, chairman of STX Corporation, as saying at a local business event.
Petrobras is expected to soon issue large tenders for offshore oil development vessels, including drillships and floating production, storage and offloading units.
In April, Petrobras executives visited South Korea and held individual meetings with shipbuilders on vessel orders worth a total $25 billion to $30 billion. Of the total, $15 billion would be for drillships and semi-submersibles to be awarded this year.
South Korean shipbuilders in talks with Petrobras include Hyundai Heavy Industries , Samsung Heavy Industries , Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding - the world's four largest shipyards.
Separately, Kang said STX Group's shipping unit STX Pan Ocean was likely to post a profit in 2009, after a turnaround in the second half.
Shipping companies including STX Pan Ocean, the world's number five dry bulk carrier, have suffered from low freight rates and weak global trade amid the economic downturn.