Kogas inks MOU on natural gas across India

Jang Jin-suk, a director of supply at Korea Gas Corporation, left, and Fairwood Peninsula Energy’s CEO Frederick Jones pose with their agreements signed at the Grand InterContinental Hotel, in southern Seoul, on Wednesday. [KOREA GAS CORPOATION]

Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas), a state-run energy company, inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with American natural gas liquefaction business Fairwood Peninsula Energy (FPE) on Wednesday with the aim of creating synergy in the Indian liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.

The director of supply at Kogas, Jang Jin-suk, signed the agreement at the Grand InterContinental Hotel in Gangnam District, Seoul, to discuss the provision of LNG in eastern and western India with both FPE and a local natural gas company.

“The signing of this MOU signals an important opportunity for Kogas to play a leading role in the downstream sector of the global natural gas business with its 30 year expertise,” Jang said.

Under the agreement, the two companies will use floating storage regasification units (FRSU) built on the sea floor and pipes that stretch 830 kilometers (515.7 miles) through both the ocean and across land to supply natural gas to downtown areas, industrial complexes, power plants and fertilizer factories.

FPE will focus on supply and the FRSU, while Kogas will focus on how to push forward the pipeline business with local natural gas companies.

Having successfully pushed forward the natural gas business in eastern India, Kogas is confident that it can build on its friendly relationship with the Indian government and local businesses.

It plans to continue its contribution to India’s natural gas business by participating in the compressed natural gas and city gas sectors.

The public enterprise recently turned its sights on overseas market to go beyond the constraints of the smaller domestic energy market.

BY HAN JAE-YONG, PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]