Regional LNG: KOGAS buys two cargoes of LNG from Qatar

Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS), the world's single-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has bought two 60,000-ton cargoes of spot LNG from Qatar to meet additional demand, a company source said on Tuesday.

State-run KOGAS had been seeking three to four extra cargoes of LNG, a major heating fuel in South Korea, since February but a bout of milder weather at the tail end of winter prompted a decision to purchase only two additional cargoes, a KOGAS source told Reuters.

The need for extra LNG supplies has emerged due to protracted closures at two South Korean nuclear plants.

"We will take time until mid-March to see if we need more cargoes, but there will be no more buying for now because we've secured the two cargoes and the weather has been warm thankfully," said the source.

KOGAS maintains stocks of about 500,000 tons of LNG, sufficient to meet domestic demand until April, he added.

KOGAS bought the cargoes from Qatar's Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company (Rasgas), with one due to be delivered in early March and the other in early April, said the source. One of the cargoes was diverted from Rasgas' term commitment with a Japanese trading house, Mitsubishi Corp, he added.

The South Korean government has delayed indefinitely the planned restart of a 1,000-megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant in Yonggwang from February 16 after coming under strong pressure from nearby residents worried about safety.

The residents called on the government to allow safety checks to be carried out by a third party of their choosing.

Another 1,000-MW nuclear power plant in Yonggwang, which has the same type of nuclear reactor as the above-mentioned plant, was shut at the end of last year for decontamination work after a radioactive leak. Work is due to be completed by March 14.

KOGAS imports 19.4 million tons of LNG every year under long term contracts with Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Qatar, Oman and Australia. (*)