Exmar chief executive Nicolas Saverys told Upstream that the company is “in the prequalification stage” with yards.

He did not mention specific names but suggested “all the ­usual suspects” are on his list.

“At the moment we are looking at the field-specific adaptations that we would have to do.”

Saverys said a final investment decision on one or both of these new floaters could come as soon as “the second half of this year”.

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