Seoul: The first-ever shipment of Russian natural gas to South Korea will arrive this weekend, officials told AFP on Thursday. The 65,000-tonne shipment is due at the southern port city of Tongyeong on Saturday. It is the first shipment of agreed annual imports of 1.5 million tonnes from Russia over the next 20 years, state-run Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) said. South Korea has previously relied heavily on Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian countries for gas imports. "The imports of Russian natural gas will help South Korea diversify and secure stable energy supplies," KOGAS said in a statement. The corporation struck a deal with Russia's Sakhalin Energy in 2005 to import liquefied natural gas from the far eastern island. South Korea is one of the world's largest consumers of natural gas, importing 7.8 million tonnes every year for home heating alone. Russia has estimated natural gas reserves of 38 billion tonnes. [10/04/09]
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