South Korea Should Limit US Shale Gas to 20% of Total Imports

South Korea should restrict imports of US shale gas to about 20% of its total gas imports to avoid excessive reliance on one source, Wall Street Journal quoted a senior executive at state-run Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) as saying on Monday.

"In my personal opinion, around 20% of shale gas [liquefied natural gas] is desirable. Too much exposure to shale gas LNG is not too desirable," said Kwon Young-Sik, chief operating officer at Kogas's resources division.

South Korea is world’s second largest LNG importer after Japan. According to Wall Street Journal, the Asian nation is set to be the first Asian importer of U.S. natural gas, as it has contracted to purchase 3.5 million tons a year of LNG from the Sabine Pass project.

Kogas also has a stake in an LNG project in Kitimat, British Columbia. 

Kwon said Kogas is waiting for new LNG demand forecasts from the government by the end of this year before making further decisions on its future fuel mix, which will also be determined by prevailing price levels, Wall Street Journal added.

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