KB Kookmin Bank has completed the arrangement of financing for a U.S. offshore LNG infrastructure development project.

KB Kookmin Bank said on Wednesday it completed joint arrangement of project financing for the U.S. Delfin floating liquefied natural gas development project. The financing agreement was signed on Tuesday local time.

Global large banks including MUFG and Citi took part as joint arrangers. KB Kookmin Bank was the only South Korean financial institution listed as a lead arranger.

The total syndicated financing amounts to $2.676 billion, about 4 trillion won. KB Kookmin Bank arranged and participated with $160 million, about 240 billion won.

Delfin FLNG is the first commercial floating LNG facility to be developed offshore in the United States. Floating LNG is equipment that can liquefy, store and offload natural gas at sea, and is viewed as energy infrastructure that can shorten construction periods and reduce the burden of upfront investment compared with onshore LNG terminals.

The project is being 추진 in waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf of Mexico is an area where U.S. natural gas production and transport infrastructure is concentrated, and the Delfin FLNG project is linked to expanding U.S. LNG supply capacity and strengthening global energy export competitiveness.

South Korea's shipbuilding industry also participated in the project. Samsung Heavy Industries won a contract from Delfin Midstream to build FLNG facilities. That created a structure in which a South Korean shipbuilder is responsible for construction and a South Korean financial company arranges and provides project financing.

KB Kookmin Bank explained that the project is significant as a case in which South Korean shipbuilding and finance jointly participated in the development of U.S. strategic energy infrastructure. It is also viewed as an example of support for investment in the United States, in that finance backed energy infrastructure investment there and overseas orders by South Korean companies.

Won-jong Lee (이원종), executive vice president and head of the CIB Sales Group at KB Kookmin Bank, said, "The Delfin project is a symbolic transaction that takes trade, energy and shipbuilding cooperation between South Korea and the United States to the next level." He added, "We will continue to actively support the global expansion of South Korean industry and further expand the role of finance that contributes to strengthening national competitiveness."