John Fredriksen-controlled Golar LNG is understood to be considering booking up to six more newbuildings.
However, the Norwegian company is said to be playing hardball and is pushing shipyards to offer rock-bottom prices.
Meanwhile, the talk of further orders for Golar has baffled market players, some of whom have already expressed nervousness about the overhang of 30-plus uncommitted LNG-carrier newbuildings due deliveries from the third quarter of 2013 onwards.
Golar is already sitting on 11 unfixed speculative newbuildings, ordered at Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, while it also has two LNG floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) on order at Samsung.