Gazprom’s delegation took part in the work of the Russian-Korean intergovernmental comission
Release
The Russian – Korean Intergovernmental commission on economic, scientific and technological collaboration held its meeting in Seoul (Republic of Korea) on July 21–22. The delegation of the Russian Federation was headed by the Minister of industry, science and technology Iliya Klebanov. Delegation of Gazprom headed by the Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee Alexander Ananenkov took part in the work of the Intergovernmental Commission.
During the visit of the delegation to Seoul Alexander Anankov and the President of LG International (one of the biggest South Korean energy companies) Soo-Ho Lee signed the Memorandum of mutual understanding. The document laid the foundation for collaboration of two companies in the sphere of Russian gas supply to the Asian-Pacific countries, operations on the energy market of South Korea and implementation of promising projects in the oil and gas sector.
The delegation of Gazprom had a working meeting with the management of the Korean Gas Corporation (Kogas). The parties discussed the progress in implementation of the Agreement on collaboration between the two companies signed on May 12, 2003. In particular, the parties talked of the outlooks of operation of the working groups created in the framework of the Agreement. The work of the Intergovernmental Commission was completed with signing the final Protocol stressing the significance of collaboration of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Korea in the energy sector.
Background
Gas reserves of the Republic of Korea are extremely limited, and currently natural gas is not produced at the gas fields of the country. At the same time, natural gas consumption in Korea amounted to 21.9 bcm in 2002. According to the forecasts, gas consumption in the country may rise 1.5 times by 2010 and 2 times by the year of 2020.
At present, the Korean gas market is entirely dependent on the imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). An extensive gas transmission network is created in the country, connecting coast LNG terminals with the main consumption centers. Due to this, not only power producers but also industry and population became major gas consumers. Set up in 1983, the Korean Gas Corporation is in charge of the gas transmission network operation. Main businesses of the company: construction and operation of the LNG receiving terminals and gas transmission networks; implementation of gas projects abroad; research and scientific developments in the gas sector. The company operates three LNG receiving terminals and a pipeline grid with the total length of 2,442 km.
Information Directorate, OAO Gazprom