Three Korean shipbuilders have won a large-scale project worth $20 billion for liquefied natural gas vessels in Qatar, according to industry sources Tuesday.

Qatar’s state-owned firm Qatar Petroleum said it has signed a deal with three South Korean shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries -- to reserve LNG ship construction capacity.

Under the agreements, the Korean shipbuilders will reserve a major portion of their LNG ship construction capacity for QP through 2027. In large-scale projects, shipbuilders normally sign a contract to secure space, or slots, for building ships before placing an official order.

QP said it needs more than 100 LNG vessels by 2027 and currently secured approximately 60 percent of the global LNG shipbuilding capacity.

The amount of orders allocated to each shipbuilder has not yet been fixed. The three firms will take part in bidding possibly this year for the allocation, according to an official from one of the three shipbuilders.

Qatar, the world’s largest LNG producer, is planning to expand its annual production from 77 million tons to 126 million tons by 2027 as demand has increased due to tightened environmental standards around the world, including in China and Europe. 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)