SK Shipping Expects Leadership in Shale Gas Transports

SK Shipping is confident of achieving a leadership status in shale gas transportation.

"Now that we have the world's largest LNG carriers, we will take a step forward in the area of shale gas transportation" Paek Sok-hyon, SK Shipping president, said this in a press conference, Korea IT Times reported.

He said that age of shale gas will truly begin when demand for gas in countries like United States and Australia will rise to a sufficient level.

SK Shipping, a SK Group company, had in April signed a long-term contract with Marubeni to ship shale gas to Korea from the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana and the Ichthys project off the northwestern coast of Australia.

Commenting on the deals Paek said, "The deal is important in that we could strengthen relationships with energy majors such as Total and become the world's first shale gas carrier between continents."

SK Shipping has consigned the construction of two 180,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers to Samsung Heavy Industries, which will deliver the ships by 2017, Korea IT Times said.