The news was announced at the South Korean company’s annual shareholder meeting by Chief Executive Choo Kang Soo.
Korea Gas will start importing liquefied natural gas from Yemen in the second half of this year to diversify its energy sources, Choo said. The company will receive 2 million metric tons of LNG annually for 20 years.
South Korea, the world’s biggest LNG buyer after Japan, imported 27 million tons of the fuel last year. Qatar, Indonesia, Oman and Malaysia accounted for more than 90 percent of shipments.
Korea Gas is considering importing Russian fuel in the form of LNG if South Korea and Russia fail to secure the consent of North Korea to build an overland pipeline on its territory to Vladivostok, according to Choo.
In September, Korea Gas signed a 30-year accord with OAO Gazprom to import 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year via North Korea, equivalent to almost a quarter of the country’s needs, starting in 2015.
Author: Ksenia Kochneva
