Qatar said Thursday it has signed a deal to supply South Korea with 2 million metric tons a year of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, for 20 years from 2013, the latest in a string of deals struck over the last two months with energy-hungry Asian countries.
Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. 3, owned by state-run LNG producer RasGas, said it signed a new sales and purchase agreement with South Korea’s government -controlled Korea Gas Corp. (036460.SE), or Kogas, to supply 2 million tons a year of the super-cooled fuel from 2013, in addition to incremental medium-term volumes from 2012 to 2016.
RasGas already supplies Kogas with 7 millions tons of LNG a year.
Kogas Chief Operating Officer Young Sung said the deal was “helpful for long-term security of LNG supply to Korea.”
In early December, RasGas signed a 20 year, 1.5 million ton, LNG deal with Taiwan’s CPC. Corp and Qatargas said it may supply more of the fuel to Japan after the state-run company signed a contract to sell 1.2 million tons to Chubu Electric Power Co. (9502.TO) and Shizuokagas Co. (9543.TO).
Japan, the world’s largest LNG importer, saw its energy imports soar after an earthquake and tsunami damaged nuclear reactors last spring.
Qatar, holder of the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves afterRussiaandIran, is the world’s biggest LNG exporter by far with capacity of about 77 million tons a year.
