Australia’s Global Energy Ventures (GEV) has secured a six-month extension on a letter of intent (LOI) to build a series of pioneering compressed natural gas (CNG) ships worth up to $1.2bn at Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore in China.

GEV said the extension for four firm 200m standard cubic feet per day of gas CNG Optimum newbuildings runs through to 30 June 2020.