Korea?s POSCO considering buying LNG from Bontang's proposed ninth train

Korean steel firm Pohang Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. (POSCO) is considering buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the proposed ninth train in Bontang, East Kalimantan, AFX-ASIA quoted a source as saying.

The construction of the ninth train, which will have capacity of 3 million tones of LNG per day, is expected to begin next year once Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has secured sales deals and arranged project financing. The building phase will take approximately 36 months.

"We hope to start building the ninth train next year once we have signed a memorandum of understanding (with a buyer)," the source told AFX-ASIA on the sidelines of an international energy conference here.

"Pertamina has been talking with some buyers in Japan, but I think POSCO is the most likely," said the source, who works for a major energy firm supplying the Bontang LNG plant.

POSCO is planning to directly import LNG from Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Middle East and use it to supply its Kwangyang and Pohang natural gas-fired power plants. POSCO will also construct a LNG Storage Facility in Kwangyang. The LNG terminal is expected to be completed by March 2005. (*)