Speculative orders for newbuilding LNG carriers to be delivered after 2016 are expected to resume from the second quarter of 2013.
Jun Jae-Chun, Daishin Securities analyst in Korea, said NERA Economic Consulting's report on the macroeconomic impacts of LNG exports from the United States had recently been officially published and revealed "U.S. Department of Energy will gather opinions about the report and is expected to decide whether to approve requested individual export projects (15 projects at present) by around March-April in 2013."
Jun revealed "It is possible that the US government will approve LNG export to Non-FTA countries for the second time after Sabin Pass. In line with this decision, speculative orderings for newbuilding LNG carriers with deliveries slated for after 2016, which transport shale gas, are prospected."
Meanwhile, he forecasted that offshore plant, including deep-sea drillship and offshore production facility, would take high proportion of new orders contracted by Korean major shipbuilders.
Also, orders for boxship and LNG carrier would accelerate in the first quarter and the second quarter of the next year, respectively.