  |
|
Korea Gas, Mitsubishi sign LNG co-operation accord
PLATTS
SEOUL
Petroleumworld.com 11 10 06
State-run Korea Gas Corp. and Japanese trader Mitsubishi Corp. signed an
accord Thursday to co-operate in liquefied natural gas trade and operations,
as well as pursue joint LNG projects, a Kogas official told Platts.
Under the memorandum of understanding, the two companies would co-operate
in LNG trading, gas swap deals and leases of LNG carriers, Kogas said in a
statement. Kogas and Mitsubishi will also seek joint purchases of LNG and
joint upstream and downstream gas projects.
"We hope the deal will help Kogas secure stable LNG supply as Mitsubishi
has involvements in gas development and storage projects," a Kogas official
said.
Kogas has been seeking to swap its term LNG cargoes scheduled
for summer delivery for winter arrival ones to ensure adequate winter supply
but encountered no success so far this year. The country has also projected an
LNG shortage of 960,000 mt next year, rising to 1.51 million mt in 2008, 2.54
million mt in 2010 and 4.1 million mt in 2011.
Kogas has an effective monopoly on the imports and wholesale of LNG in
South Korea, the world's second largest LNG consuming country after Japan.
Kogas is the world's largest single buyer of LNG and imported almost 22
million mt in 2005.
Mitsubishi, on the other hand, has minority stakes in existing gas and
LNG projects in Brunei, Oman, Malaysia and Australia. In Indonesia, the
company in collaboration with Japan's Inpex has a 16.3% stake of upstream
rights in the BP-led Tangguh LNG project now under construction. Mitsubishi
also holds a 20% stake in Russia's proposed Sakhalin 2 LNG project.
Mitsubishi handles approximately half of Japan's LNG imports, which
reached around 58 million mt in 2005, the company said on its website.
-- Charles Lee, newsdesk@platts.com
PLATTS 09 11 06Copyright© 2006 Platts. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels