South Korea asks for LNG security of supplies and fair prices.

The South Korean government asked Tuesday the Indonesian government guarantee security of supplies and set "reasonable" price for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the country.

The request was expressed by South Korea's President Kim Dae Jung during a meeting on Tuesday with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said at the palace after the meeting.

Purnomo did not specify Abdurrahman's reaction to the request.

The request was made amid foreign investors' growing concerns over political stability and security in Indonesia and aggressive marketing campaigns into the Asian market conducted by new LNG producers, including Qatar, which sell cheaper LNG than Indonesia's.

Korea is the second largest buyer of Indonesia's LNG buyer after Japan.

President of Korea National Oil Corporation Byung Sun Ra, in a meeting between South Koreas businessmen and Indonesian businessmen, said South Korea imports US$1.3 billion worth of LNG products from Indonesia per year, which accounts for 10 percent of the country's LNG consumption.

Besides, South Korea also imports $700 million of crude oil annually from Indonesia.

He said South Korea was interested to raise its LNG imports from Indonesia to meet demands from the country's power sector but he did not specify the amount. (Godang)