Executives from the U.S. oil major Chevron are visiting South Korea to discuss mutual business concerns with the country’s three top shipbuilders and seek cooperation with them in potential projects, raising hopes for more lucrative orders in bulk, oil and gas carriers as well as offshore platforms where Korea has strong competitiveness against Chinese and European rivals.

A group of presidents of Chevron subsidiaries led by Joseph Geagea, Executive Vice President of the U.S. oil major, started their two-day visit to Korea’s top shipbuilders on Thursday, the company said.

On Thursday, the Chevron representatives visited Samsung Heavy Industries to have a glimpse of offshore plant work at the shipbuilder’s Geoje shipyard and had a meeting with president Nam Joon-woo and other Samsung Heavy Industries top officials.

Samsung Heavy Industries leads the pack in the marine plant sector with four ongoing projects to build gas production and storage facilities for global energy companies such as Petronas, BP, ENI and Reliance Industries.

Later in the day, the Chevron team moved to Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME)’s Okpo shipyard to hold a meeting with DSME chief executive Lee Sung-geun over progress in Chevron’s TCO project in Kazakhstan. The project requires DSME to build a $2.8 billion massive onshore oil production plant in the country’s Tengiz oil field.

DSME won the deal in 2014 from Tengizchevroil LLP, a joint venture in which Chevron owns a 50 percent stake. In May, DSME shipped two oil production plant modules for the project in May and is due to deliver the remaining 79 modules by July 2020.

The Chevron team is scheduled to meet Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) vice president Chung Ki-sun in Ulsan on Friday. No project is underway between Chevron and HHI, but the meeting may increase the likelihood of new orders in the future, industry observers said.

By Kang Gye-man and Minu Kim

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