Asia/Pacific News
South Korea December LNG Prices Up, Imports Down
South Korea, the world's second-largest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), reduced its imports of the fuel by 9.5 percent year-over-year in December, Bloomberg reports.
Total shipments for December hit 4.32 million metric tonnes, down from 4.77 a year earlier but up from 2.99 million tonnes in November.
The average price for the imports rose to $762.74 per tonne, compared with $750.07 in December 2011.
South Korea was reported to buy most of its LNG under multi-year contracts with nations including Qatar, Indonesia, and Oman, and in December it also made spot-market purchases from Belgium, Trinidad and Tobago, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria.
The world's LNG market has been in flux as hydraulic fracturing for shale gas becomes more common in the U.S. and major new projects move toward completion in Australia, Canada and elsewhere.
A recent report in Forbes Magazine suggested LNG prices are stabilising and will rise slowly but steadily as producers adjust supply to avoid a big drop in prices.
