Qatar boosts LNG supplies to Korea

RasGas will supply a record 8.3mn tonnes of liquefied natural gas to South Korea this year, which will account for a quarter of the total anticipated LNG demand in the country,

HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada has said.
Currently, RasGas is the largest single supplier of LNG to South Korea delivering more than 7mn tonnes of LNG a year on a long-term basis. 
“In addition to our current long-term commitments, RasGas delivered more than 1mn tonnes per year of incremental spot cargoes for the past several years,” al-Sada said in his opening remarks during the first anniversary celebration of RasGas Korea Liaison Office in Seoul. 
Al-Sada reiterated that Qatar’s “excellent relationship” with South Korea extended well beyond the sales and purchase of LNG to include petrochemicals, construction, ship building and other industries.
“The RasGas Korea Liaison Office was established in recognition of our long-standing relationship with Kogas and South Korea and underscores the importance which RasGas and Qatar place on these relationships. We are very pleased with the success of this office and believe it has further strengthened our already strong bond with South Korea and Kogas,” he said. 
“RasGas made its first sale of LNG to Kogas, which is the largest single buyer of LNG in the world. RasGas produces about 37mn tonnes of LNG a year, one of the largest in the world. We are very proud of RasGas achievements and its great relations with Kogas and look forward to further growing this relationship with the agreement for additional long-term supply.”
He said Qatar, through Nakilat and its LNG joint ventures, took delivery of the last of 54 LNG tankers and four LPG ships built by South Korea shipyards in 2010. They were valued at over $13.5bn. The nine-year ship building phase began in November 2001 and resulted in the construction of the largest LNG carriers in the world; the 266,000 cubic metre Q-Max ships.
“In January this year, Hyundai Heavy Industries was awarded the lump sum EPC contract for Barzan Gas, the largest gas project in the region, which will start production in 2014,” he said.
“We look forward to the safe and successful completion of this mammoth project. Barzan Gas Project has an unprecedented number of Qatari employees on the project team. I would like to express my appreciation to Hyundai and RasGas management for their strong and unwavering support for the development of our nationals.”
Source: Gulf Times