In a working meeting, Gazprom chairman Alexey Miller and Kogas Korea Gas Corporation president and CEO Lee Soo Ho discussed the newly signed intergovernmental agreement for gas deliveries to Korea, which Gazprom said creates necessary conditions for the launch of negotiations between Gazprom and Kogas about Russian gas export.

At the meeting, the parties discussed issues in relation to the organization of pipeline gas shipments to the Republic Korea beginning in 2012-13, as well as possibilities of executing swap and spot liquefied & compressed natural gas deals at an earlier stage.

Kogas representatives highlighted basic approaches to promoting joint businesses in LNG trading, setting up natural gas liquefaction capacities in eastern Russia, introducing new technologies to produce synthetic fuels from natural gas (GTL and DME technologies), as well as joint gas exploration, production and marketing in third countries.

The Russian delegation, meanwhile, pointed to the promising directions of interaction with Kogas in eastern Russia, including natural gas and derivatives marketing in the Republic of Korea and other Asia Pacific countries.

At present, the Republic of Korea is almost fully dependent on LNG imports. The South Korean gas market is featured by a manifold gas transmission network linking onshore LNG terminals with major consumption provinces, which helps widely use natural gas both in the power generation and industrial & household sectors.