State-run Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) has said it will order two new LNG carriers in 2017, possibly at domestic yard, according to a Yonhap report.

Kogas President Lee Seung-hoon told the news agency that plans to order the vessels had been brought forward in order to help South Korea's shipbuilding industry through its worst-ever slump.

"At the moment, demand for global LNG is waning, which works to reduce demand for new LNG carriers," he told Yonhap. "As new shipbuilding orders are declining, we are looking at an option to assign maintenance work to local shipbuilders as well."

Kogas is the world's largest LNG importer by volume.