Gazprom to sign roadmap agreement for arranging gas supply to South Korea
MOSCOW. Sept 10 (Interfax) - Gazprom plans to sign a roadmap for organizing deliveries of Russian gas to South Korea during President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the country, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Interfax following South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's meeting with Russian businessmen on Thursday evening.
Russian gas giant Gazprom and South Korea's Kogas signed a partnership agreement in 2003 for a term of five years, which, in 2008, was extended for another half-decade. The document covers a wide range of issues including development of Russian natural gas delivery to the country. Both sides formed an active joint working group for carrying out the agreement's stipulations.
Russia and South Korea's governments signed an agreement in 2006 "On Partnership in the Gas Industry", which granted Gazprom and Kogas the authority for the organization of natural gas deliveries from Russia to South Korea.
Gazprom and Kogas signed a memorandum of mutual understanding in 2008 for supplying South Korea with natural gas.
Gazprom and Kogas signed an agreement a year ago for joint research into gas supply. The document foresees studying options for gas supply from the end point of the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas transport system to South Korea.
In the framework of the project's implementation, Sakhalin-2 supplied consumers in South Korea with 2.6 million tonnes of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2009-20100.
Gas consumption in South Korea came to 33.8 billion cubic meters in 2009. The country's gas market almost entirely relies on LNG imports.