OREANDA-NEWS South Korea– the third largest LNG buyer in the world after Japan and China, imported 4,257 million tons of LNG in February 2024, which is 6% more than in the same month of 2023, according to local customs.

The trade in liquefied natural gas, which is transported on large gas tankers, may be characterized by uneven statistics of receiving shipments between months. The average purchase rate over the past three months has decreased by one and a half percent compared to the same period a year ago.

LNG supplies from Russia amounted to 192 thousand tons (or three standard LNG shipments), an increase of one and a half times compared to a year ago. Large-capacity LNG in Russia is produced by Sakhalin Energy plants (co–owned by Gazprom, Mitsui and Mitsubishi), as well as Yamal LNG (participants are NOVATEK, TotalEnergies, Chinese CNPC and SRF).

Shipments from Australia (the largest supplier) were almost unchanged (+2%) and amounted to 1,174 million tons. Qatar increased exports by 12% to 942 thousand tons.

The International Energy Agency expects a 2% decrease in gas consumption in South Korea in 2024. According to the IEA, the indicator is decreasing due to the growth of nuclear energy production and the expansion of the use of renewable sources.