LNG

May 27 (LNGJ) - South Korean project company GS Engineering and Construction is advancing with plans to build an LNG import terminal in the southwestern city of Yeosu in South Jeolla Province, which would be Korea’s eighth import facility. GS Engineering estimates the terminal will cost around 600 billion South Korean won ($440M) and will have two LNG storage tanks, each with a capacity of 200,000 cubic metres as well as auxiliary facilities and port infrastructure.

   The company added that once completed by around 2028, the terminal would supply regasified LNG to industrial companies and power plants at the national industrial complex at Yeosu. The oldest Korean terminal was completed in 1986 at Pyeong-Taek, followed by an expanded network comprising Incheon (1996), Tong-Yeong (2002), Gwangyang (2005), Samcheok (2014), Boryyeong (2016) and Jeju (2019).

The largest South Korean power and natural gas companies with liquefied natural gas commitments including imports and purchases have seen their current debts staying at high levels because of last year’s higher commodity prices and increasing interest rates.

South Korean authorities said fire-fighters were still tackling a huge forest fire that at one time had threatened the Samcheok liquefied natural gas import terminal and the Hanul Nuclear Power Plant in Uljin as it began to spread to the south.

South Korea has completed the construction of a liquefied natural gas storage and distribution facility on the southern resort island of Jeju to help bring security of power supply while reducing emissions.

South Korea, the third-largest LNG importer, posted a 15 percent decline in liquefied natural gas shipments last month even at seasonally low prices, with Australia and Malaysia as the leading suppliers.

Korea Gas Corp., the South Korean utility and owner of four LNG import terminals and worldwide volumes, said it signed an agreement to buy US LNG shipments from UK energy major BP.