Samsung Heavy wins $2.3 bln offshore facility deal

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., a South Korean shipbuilder, said Monday it has received a letter of agreement to build an offshore facility for around US$2.26 billion. Under the agreement with Inpex Corp. of Japan, Samsung Heavy will construct the offshore gas processing facility by the end of 2015, the company said. Both sides will officially sign the deal this month, the company said. "The value of the order is expected to reach up to 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) when a deal to build related facilities is taken into consideration," said an official at Samsung Heavy. The facility, 110 meters wide and high, is expected to be the world's largest offshore plant once it is built, Samsung Heavy claimed. Shares of Samsung Heavy closed at 33,700 won on the Seoul bourse, up 3.5 percent. French supermajor Total and Inpex are working on a $34-billion liquefied natural gas project in Australia. Samsung Heavy aims to win orders totaling $12.5 billion this year. In 2011, the shipbuilder received $15 billion worth of orders.