QatarEnergy holds LNG talks with South Korea’s Kogas

Qatar’s energy minister and QatarEnergy’s CEO, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, held talks with top energy leaders during a visit to South Korea, according to a statement on Monday.

Al-Kaabi was accompanied by a delegation of senior executives from QatarEnergy and QatarEnergy LNG.

During his visit, Al-Kaabi met with Choi Yeon-Hye, CEO of Kogas, to discuss “enhancing bilateral cooperation and expanding business relations,” QatarEnergy said.

QatarEnergy said Kogas is an “important” buyer of Qatari LNG.

The firm did not provide further information.

South Korea’s Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn also met with Al-Kaabi, MOTIE said in a separate statement on Monday.

As of 2023, Qatar is Korea’s second-largest supplier of LNG, the ministry said.

“The meeting served as an opportunity to reaffirm both countries’ commitment to stabilizing the energy supply amid recent Middle East tensions and rising global interest towards energy supply issues,” it said.

“Sharing a high regard for their close LNG ties, the two sides agreed to maintain them going forward and further discussed measures for expanding the scope of collaboration based on their successful LNG partnership to push cooperation in renewable energy, hydrogen, and such clean energy sources,” MOTIE said.

LNG supplies

Back in July 2021, QatarEnergy, previously known as Qatar Petroleum, entered into a 20-year deal to supply LNG to Kogas.

Under the sales and purchase agreement, QatarEnergy will deliver 2 million tons per year of LNG to Kogas’ receiving LNG terminals, starting in 2025.

Due to “competitive price” and “favorable contract conditions”, the new deal would save Kogas $1 billion throughout the period of 20 years, MOTIE said at the time.

In addition, the contract gives Kogas the right to boost, reduce, or cancel a certain amount of the annual LNG supplies, MOTIE said.

Qatar supplies about 9 million tons of LNG to South Korea per year via multiple long-term deals with Kogas.

In 2024, contracts totaling some 4.9 million tons would end while the new deal would make up for some of these volumes, the ministry said in July 2021.

QatarEnergy is currently working on the giant North Field LNG expansion program, which includes the North Field South and North Field West projects.

Together, these will raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity from the current 77 mtpa to 142 mtpa in 2030.​

In February, QatarEnergy also announced the North Field West project which will add 16 mtpa of LNG to the overall expansion of the North Field.

The company signed many supply deals related to these first two expansion projects, including 27-year SPAs with Sinopec, Eni, Shell, and TotalEnergies.