LNG

The Korean Register (KR), the maritime classification society of South Korea, said simultaneous operations of ship-to-ship bunkering of liquefied natural gas were successfully conducted at the Port of Gwanyang, where there is also an LNG import terminal.

Cheniere Energy, the largest US liquefied natural gas exporter with its two plants at Corpus Christi in Texas and Sabine Pass in Louisiana, said that it had signed long-term contracts for 180 million tonnes of LNG and issued an upbeat message on markets, expansions and delivery.

POSCO International, the energy unit of the South Korean steel-producing and industrial group, has joined with Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina to win the exploration and production licence for the Bunga gas block offshore Java as Korea's LNG import facilities are expanding.

“A consortium involving POSCO International and Indonesian state-owned PT Pertamina Hulu Energy (PHE) obtained the rights from the Indonesian government to explore the Bunga natural gas block off the eastern Java Island,” said POSCO in a statement.

The two will each own a 50 percent stake in the project and POSCO International will be the operator.

POSCO explained that the award followed a joint study of the 8,500 square kilometres Bunga block with Pertamina Hulu Energi, a 100 percent subsidiary of Pertamina.

The Korean company is expected to direct any natural gas resources to possible LNG export possibilities.

Imports

POSCO International, which was newly branded as a company after the merger with POSCO Energy, noted that it is the only energy company in Korea that has an LNG value chain from exploration to production, storage and power generation.

It also has natural gas interests in Myanmar and Australia and has been carrying out gas exploration offshore Malaysia since 2021.

POSCO has firm plans to increase LNG imports and held a ground-breaking ceremony at the end of January 2023 for a planned new import facility near the site of the existing Gwangyang facility in South Jeolla province.

The company plans to invest 930 billion Korean won ($757 million) to build the terminal with two LNG storage tanks, each with 200,000 cubic metres capacity, to provide power for the steel mills and more electricity for the region.

In addition to the existing Gwangyang terminal, Korea has six other facilities at Boryeong, Incheon, Jeju, Pyeongtaek, Samcheok and Tong-Yeong.

POSCO said it regarded the new terminal as “another growth engine for Korean industry at Gwangyang” where the first LNG facility started operations in 2005.

South Korean steelmaker and LNG importer POSCO has been engaged in damage restoration work after a typhoon and was planning to re-start the Pohang steel complex as the gas-fired power plant using regasified LNG is returned to normal capacity.

South Korea is planning the use of hydrogen in blast furnaces for steel-making rather than in natural gas pipelines as European and US environmental energy lobbyists are putting forward as a gas replacement.

Peninsula Petroleum, a leading marine fuels company, teamed up with Petronas Marine of Malaysia to complete its first LNG bunker supply to H-Line Shipping of South Korea in Malaysian waters.

Nov 11 (LNGJ) - The South Korean energy subsidiary of steelmaking conglomerate Posco has begun operating its new liquefied natural gas supply business. The event was marked by a ceremony at the company’s Kwangyang LNG import terminal in Jeolla province. The terminal has previously supplied LNG only to the parent steelmaking company since 2005 when a commissioning cargo was shipped from Oman.

   Posco Energy explained that it planned to bring in LNG cargoes and store them in tanks inside designated customs-bonded zones, before suppling them to buyers. It also noted that given the location, its Kwangyang terminal was capable of meeting the growing demand for LNG in neighbouring Asian countries such as China.

Air Liquide Engineering & Construction, a unit of France's industrial gases company, has signed a new contract with LNG importer, the POSCO Group and the leading steel producer in South Korea, to design and build an Air Separation Unit (ASU) at Pohang.