S. KOREA'S SHIPBUILDERS SIGN DEAL WITH QATAR

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South Korea's three largest shipbuilders have signed a deal with Qatar, the world's largest producer of liquefied natural gas. The deal commits them to reserve their LNG ship construction capacity, to meet future orders from Qatar worth some 23 trillion won.

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​Qatar produces 77 million tons of LNG annually. It's the world's largest volume so far, but the country is expanding production facilities to further raise output to around 126 million tons by the year 2027. Qatar also plans to increase the number of LNG transport ships. To achieve this, state-owned Qatar Petroleum has signed an agreement with three Korean shipyards -- Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries. The deal calls for the 3 firms to reserve a majority portion of their LNG shipbuilding capacity for Qatar Petroleum through 2027. The deal is tantamount to a preliminary ship construction agreement. Through the accord, Qatar plans to secure some 100 LNG ships worth 23 trillion won, making it the largest-ever LNG shipbuilding contract. After inking the deal, Qatar Petroleum CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi called Korea an important strategic partner in the energy field. He expressed hope the latest deal will lead to greater, wider ties in the two countries' economic cooperation. Korea's shipbuilding sector believes the latest deal again proves that Korea is the world's best in LNG shipbuilding and that the agreement has increased the odds of securing more orders later in the year.