Seoul: The world's largest importer of LNG South Korea's state-owned Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) expects to have a 1.01-million-tonne liquefied natural gas (LNG) surplus, slightly higher than the usual 930,000 tonnes, by the end of March 2010 as a result of slow demand.
However, KOGAS, the world's largest corporate buyer of LNG, would need to import nearly 4 million tonnes of LNG more per year by the end of next year, its CEO Choo Kang-soo said in a parliamentary audit. "Gas demand is likely to rise marginally along with the economic recovery."
"Our natural gas sales rose by 3 percent last year, much lower than the previous 10-percent rise because of slow demand for power generation amid the economic recession," Choo said. "This year, sales are expected to show negative growth."
KOGAS last month projected that it would sell a total of 27.28 million tonnes of LNG, up 3.5 percent from last year.
South Korea, the world's No.2 LNG buyer after Japan, was projected to consume a total of 25.31 million tonnes of LNG for the year ended March 2010, while KOGAS had secured 26.32 million tonnes for the period, Choo said.
Of total consumption, 15.69 million tonnes will be supplied to household and businesses, and the remainder will be used for power generation. [07/10/09]
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