South Korea Secures LNG From Qatar, Crude From Saudi Arabia
South Korea signed an agreement with leading liquefied natural gas exporter Qatar on 9 February for the supply of 2mn tons/year of LNG over 20 years. Signed during a state visit by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to Doha, the deal – between Qatar’s RasGas and South Korea’s KOGAS – stipulates that deliveries from Ras Laffan would begin in 2013. This deal comes on the back of two existing long term LNG purchase deals between the two countries – one signed in 1995, under which 4.5mn t/y is delivered, and the other signed in 2007 for the delivery of 2.1 mn t/y. Qatar currently supplies South Korea with around 23.7% of its total gas imports.
The South Korean president arrived in Doha following a visit to Saudi Arabia earlier in the week, during which he held talks with both Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Naimi and CEO of state-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco Khalid al-Falih, over “means of bilateral cooperation” between the two countries, Saudi Arabia’s SPA news agency reported. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency later quoted a senior Saudi official as saying the Saudi petroleum minister had “promised to help ensure a stable supply of crude to South Korea.”
In South Korea meanwhile, oil refining and marketing company S-Oil announced it had signed a 20-year deal with Saudi Aramco for the supply of around 230mn barrels of crude oil per year – some 30% of the country’s total annual consumption. This contract is set to cover all of S-Oil’s crude oil needs for the coming 20 years, a spokesman for the company said without specifying the terms under which the crude would be sold. Saudi Aramco is the majority stakeholder in South Korea’s S-Oil, with a 35% share.
Copyright MEES 2012.
