South Korean LNG importing giant Kogas reported lower gas sales in February when compared to the same month last year.
Kogas sold 3.93 million mt last month, a drop of 5.7 percent when compared to 4.17 million mt in February last year, according to a stock exchange filing.
February sales dropped by 15 percent when compared to the previous month’s 4.63 million mt.
Purchases by power firms rose by 11.2 percent year-on-year to 1.75 million mt in February. These purchases were down by 1.5 percent when compared to the previous month.
Moreover, Kogas said its city gas sales decreased by 16 percent year-on-year to 2.18 million mt, while they dropped by 23.4 percent when compared to the month before.
South Korean LNG imports rose slightly from 45.9 million tons in 2021 to about 46.3 million tons of LNG in 2022 as prices surged, according to customs data.
In January this year, South Korea imported 4.78 million tons of LNG and most of the volumes came from Australia, Oman, Malaysia, and Indonesia, the data shows. This compares to 4.99 million tons in January last year.
February data is currently not available.
Kogas imports LNG from plants located around the globe and currently operates four large LNG terminals in South Korea.
These include Incheon, Pyeongtaek, Tongyeong, and Samcheok. The firm has a small-scale regasification terminal at the Aewol port on Jeju island as well and is building a large terminal in Dangjin.
Earlier this year, Kogas received the 5000th cargo at its Pyeongtaek LNG import terminal since 1986.