KIND

Korean Offshore Plant Expansion Begins! KIND Makes Its First Entry into the U.S. FLNG Market

-Participating in the First U.S. FLNG Project Worth 7 Trillion KRW—Leading the Era of Energy Transition-

-Korean Companies Expected to Secure 4.3 Trillion KRW in EPC Contracts, Boosting Local Economies and Supporting SMEs-

Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND, President Bokhwan Kim) announced that on December 5 it finalized its decision to participate as an investor in a Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project underway in the Gulf of Louisiana, United States.

Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facilities integrate the functions of liquefaction, storage, and loading of produced natural gas into a single offshore plant. Compared to onshore LNG terminals, FLNG places less burden on the environment, faces no site constraints, and enables direct LNG production at sea. As such, it is emerging as a next-generation LNG supply solution well-aligned with the global energy transition. In particular, the ability to liquefy and load LNG immediately near the production site enhances efficiency and cost-effectiveness, drawing significant attention from major global players.

This project marks KIND’s first entry into the offshore plant sector and is considered a leading example of Korean companies proactively tapping into new global energy markets amid growing global LNG demand and the accelerating shift toward energy transition.

The United States is the world’s largest LNG exporter, and the Louisiana Gulf region is known as a strategic hub with the highest concentration of LNG production and export infrastructure. The project will operate an FLNG facility approximately 76 kilometers off the Louisiana coast, producing and selling 4.4 million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG. To ensure project stability, long-term Sales and Purchase Agreements (SPAs) have been concluded with global LNG buyers possessing strong international credit ratings, establishing a reliable revenue structure.

KIND is participating in the project alongside BlackRock—one of the world’s largest asset managers—Korea’s Green Fund under the Ministry of Environment, and domestic financial institutions, helping drive contract wins for Korean companies. The FLNG facility is scheduled to be built at a Korean shipyard, with expected EPC orders for Korean firms totaling approximately USD 2.9 billion (about KRW 4.3 trillion). This is anticipated to stimulate local economies around shipyard regions, promote shared growth with small and medium-sized partner companies, and generate employment across related industries. KIND is also making concerted efforts to help Korean companies secure EPC contracts for the second and third FLNG units currently being developed under the same project. If successful, the economic impact is expected to expand even further.

This investment is viewed as a representative case in which the Korean government’s policy direction—expanding economically sound U.S.-bound investment following recent bilateral trade negotiations—aligns with KIND’s overseas project development and investment strategy.

KIND is actively expanding collaborative entry models in new-energy markets such as the U.S. and Australia, enabling Korean financial institutions and industry players to advance together. This project is especially meaningful as it goes beyond traditional construction-centered overseas expansion to realize an integrated investment-development model—including equity investment, project development, EPC, and operations—packaged with K-content as part of the overall project.

President Bokhwan Kim of KIND emphasized, “The U.S. FLNG project is not only our corporation’s first venture into offshore plant development but also a representative success case aligned with government policy.” He added, “KIND will continue to expand the development and identification of commercially viable investment projects in the United States, pioneer new overseas energy markets to lead the era of energy transition, and support Korean companies in entering global business more actively, thereby spreading the Korean model for shared growth.”