Hyundai Heavy Industries Co and other South Korean contractors may receive a third year of record orders for refineries, floating platforms and power plants to support economic growth in the Middle East and Asia.
The nation's construction companies and shipyards will probably win combined orders of as much as US$50 billion this year, the ministry of commerce, industry and energy said in a statement yesterday in Gwacheon, South Korea.
About US$42.2 billion worth of orders were received last year, 66 per cent more than the US$25.4 billion in 2006, the ministry said.
Surging oil prices have fuelled a construction boom in the Gulf nations, the biggest source of contracts for South Korean companies last year.
Shipyards in South Korea, the world's biggest shipbuilding nation, are also winning record orders with backlogs stretching to 2012.
'Higher oil prices mean oil countries are earning more and are using that money to invest for growth,' said Sung Ki Jong, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co in Seoul. 'This trend will continue at least until 2010.'
He has 'overweight' recommendations for the shipbuilding and machinery industries.
Crude oil reached a record US$100.09 a barrel on Jan 3. The price climbed 57 per cent last year, the biggest annual percentage gain since 2002 on demand from China and India as well as concern supply may be disrupted because of Turkey's attacks on Kurdish rebels in Iraq.
The Gulf countries supply 22 per cent of the world's oil, according to BP Plc, Europe's second-largest oil company.
Saudi Arabia earned about US$206 billion on an annual basis from oil sales last year, according to government figures.
Samsung Heavy Industries Co received the biggest orders last year at US$8.04 billion, the ministry said.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co, South Korea's largest maker of power generators, won US$6.48 billion, while Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co got US$4.91 billion of contracts.
Samsung Engineering Co, South Korea's largest engineering company, won US$4.22 billion of orders.
Daewoo Shipbuilding, the world's third-largest shipyard, received a contract worth two trillion won (S$3 billion) to build an offshore oil production and storage platform in December, the single biggest contract for ships and offshore projects.
Orders for drill ships and offshore production platforms increased 29 per cent to US$13.69 billion last year, the ministry said.
Contracts for power and desalination plants almost tripled to US$12.89 billion and those for petrochemical plants more than doubled to US$97.2 billion.
Samsung Heavy, the world's second-biggest shipbuilder, and Daewoo Shipbuilding are the world's two largest makers of drill ships, which are used to explore for oil in deep waters.
Orders from the Middle East rose 37 per cent to US$12.27 billion last year, accounting for 29 per cent of the total contracts, the ministry said.
Those from other Asian nations more than tripled to US$11.57 billion and those from Africa more than doubled to US$7.93 billion.
The nation's construction companies and shipyards will probably win combined orders of as much as US$50 billion this year, the ministry of commerce, industry and energy said in a statement yesterday in Gwacheon, South Korea.
About US$42.2 billion worth of orders were received last year, 66 per cent more than the US$25.4 billion in 2006, the ministry said.
Surging oil prices have fuelled a construction boom in the Gulf nations, the biggest source of contracts for South Korean companies last year.
Shipyards in South Korea, the world's biggest shipbuilding nation, are also winning record orders with backlogs stretching to 2012.
'Higher oil prices mean oil countries are earning more and are using that money to invest for growth,' said Sung Ki Jong, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co in Seoul. 'This trend will continue at least until 2010.'
He has 'overweight' recommendations for the shipbuilding and machinery industries.
Crude oil reached a record US$100.09 a barrel on Jan 3. The price climbed 57 per cent last year, the biggest annual percentage gain since 2002 on demand from China and India as well as concern supply may be disrupted because of Turkey's attacks on Kurdish rebels in Iraq.
The Gulf countries supply 22 per cent of the world's oil, according to BP Plc, Europe's second-largest oil company.
Saudi Arabia earned about US$206 billion on an annual basis from oil sales last year, according to government figures.
Samsung Heavy Industries Co received the biggest orders last year at US$8.04 billion, the ministry said.
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co, South Korea's largest maker of power generators, won US$6.48 billion, while Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co got US$4.91 billion of contracts.
Samsung Engineering Co, South Korea's largest engineering company, won US$4.22 billion of orders.
Daewoo Shipbuilding, the world's third-largest shipyard, received a contract worth two trillion won (S$3 billion) to build an offshore oil production and storage platform in December, the single biggest contract for ships and offshore projects.
Orders for drill ships and offshore production platforms increased 29 per cent to US$13.69 billion last year, the ministry said.
Contracts for power and desalination plants almost tripled to US$12.89 billion and those for petrochemical plants more than doubled to US$97.2 billion.
Samsung Heavy, the world's second-biggest shipbuilder, and Daewoo Shipbuilding are the world's two largest makers of drill ships, which are used to explore for oil in deep waters.
Orders from the Middle East rose 37 per cent to US$12.27 billion last year, accounting for 29 per cent of the total contracts, the ministry said.
Those from other Asian nations more than tripled to US$11.57 billion and those from Africa more than doubled to US$7.93 billion.