Brazil has suggested that South Korean shipbuilders, which are the world's biggest, provide the country with drill ships or floating production, storage and offloading platforms in return for stake in its oil fields in the Santos area, the official said.
The plan would be good for KNOC given that local companies are facing difficulties in raising funds from overseas for developing oil and gas areas amid the global credit squeeze. For the shipbuilding industry as well, where orders have been canceled recently due to the global slowdown, the agreement will provide a ready market and keep order inflows steady, the official said.
Resource-constrained South Korea, which meets most of its energy needs from imports, is trying to secure more supplies by acquiring stakes in crude oil and gas blocks overseas and insulate itself from supply disruptions and price spikes.
The local companies may come up with a business model and financing details in the next couple of months and work to finalize the deal with Brazil, said the official.
Yoon Yo-han, spokesman at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, told Dow Jones Newswires that the company and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. received an offer from the government to participate in the barter deal.
"There was a working-level meeting between shipbuilders and KNOC in December but there has been no further development on the deal yet," Yoon said.
In November, South Korea and Brazil's Petrobras signed a memorandum of understanding as per which any payment for orders Petrobras places with Korean companies for vessels and plants will be insured by state-run Korea Export Insurance Corp., or KEIC.
Author: Ksenia Kochneva
