Regional LNG: S. Korea to open long-term LNG tender in H1 2006: Report

South Korea will issue a tender before the end of the first half of next year to buy 4.5 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas for use from 2010, the country?s vice energy minister said on Tuesday.

South Korea, the world's second-biggest LNG buyer, secured earlier this year $20 billion worth of supplies -- 5 million tons per year for consumption from 2008 -- but still needs to lock in more term supplies to replace expiring contracts and meet rising LNG demand.

"We have to tender for the new contracts before the end of the first half of next year because we normally need three or four years preparation before the imports actually begin to arrive," Lee Won-gul, vice energy minister, told Reuters in an interview. (*)