S. Korea gets LNG support from RI, KL and Brunei

S. Korea gets LNG support from RI, KL and Brunei

Nara Han, Dow Jones, Seoul

South Korea's government has secured cooperation from Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei on its plan to split up and distribute the current liquefied natural gas contracts of Korea Gas Corp., or Kogas , to three companies as part of efforts to restructure the country's gas industry, a government official told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

In the minutes of a meeting signed by officials from Malaysia LNG Sdn. Bhd. and Kogas, MLNG said it will "cooperate and support Kogas in implementing the government's plan to deregulate and restructure Korea's gas industry," said the official, from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy.

Officials from Indonesia and Brunei also signed similar letters with Kogas during visits by South Korean gas industry officials to the three countries, he added.

Previously, these LNG supplying countries and others had objected to South Korea's plan to divide state-run Kogas' LNG supply contracts, requesting a guarantee from a credible body, such as Kogas or the government, to ensure stable LNG purchases after Kogas' import operations are sold to private companies.

As part of the restructuring of the country's gas industry, the government plans to split Kogas' import and wholesale operations into three entities and then sell two of the three companies to the private sector by the end of 2002 through an auction.

Kogas has long-term contracts with Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar, Oman and Brunei to import a total of 16.98 million metric tons of LNG a year.