President Jang Seok-hyo of Korea Gas Corp.(Kogas) delivers his opening 

speech at Gastech 2014 Conference and Exhibition which got underway at 

Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, on March 24. (Photo: Gastech 2014)

Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) held “Gastech 2014” with 383 gas related companies from 44 countries around the world including such majors as Shell, Exxon-Mobile, Chevron, BG Group, and large state-owned gas companies such as Gazprom of Russia. It was attended by over 15,000 people, among them more than 100 leaders of the world energy industry, from March 24-27 at Kintex, just outside of Seoul, Kogas said on March 24.

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Yoon Sang-jick, in his congratulatory speech, said Gastech 2014 is very significant with the global gas industry entering a new golden age with the rapid development of shale gas in North America and he hoped that the Seoul event would be an occasion to confirm the growth potential for the Asian gas market.

President Jang Seok-hyo of Kogas, in his opening speech, said he feels that holding  Gastech 2014 in Seoul has a deep significance because the gas industry in Asia has been developing rapidly with the demand for LNG, in particular, rising fast. By 2020, LNG global demand is projected to rise by 50 percent, especially in Northeast Asia, with China at the center, and Gastech 2014 should be able to find the power and wisdom to cut the costs for gas imports and secure stable volumes satisfactory to their needs, he said.

Gastech one of the three major global events on the gas industry after the World Gas Conference and LNG Conference. Its initial meeting took place in London in 1972 and played a key role in providing a global arena for the gas industry over the past 40 years, Kogas said.

Gastech will be celebrating its 42nd year serving the gas industry in 2014. The Gastech 2014 exhibition will showcase over 300 international exhibitors and will include free educational theater viewings on the exhibition show floor, called “Centers of Technical Excellence” (CoTE), which will cover key topics including: Liquefaction, LNG as a shipping fuel, Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV), Offshore and Subsea Technology, LNG and Gas Carrier Shipbuilding, Pipeline Infrastructure, Power Generation, HSSE, and Gas Monetization NGL/GTL. 

The Gastech conference is organized by the industry for the industry and the Gastech Governing Body is made up by the most influential and experienced executives and professionals in the global gas industry. Gastech draws together the global gas and LNG community to engage over key issues affecting the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors. The Gastech conference features some of the industry’s most prominent speakers and representatives, with four days of ministerial keynotes and addresses, commercial, technical, and specialty presentations, question and answer sessions, and panel debates.

The event has evolved since 1972 to attract the entire supply chain of the oil & gas industry and is held every 18 months in a different international location.

Gastech now attracts over 14,000 industry commercial and technical professionals and services as a showcase for over 400 exhibitors from the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors.

The economic effect from staging the event is enormous for Korea with direct productivity amounting to 38.9 billion won and indirect productivity of 23.6 billion won, for a total of 62.5 billion won, not to speak of the 600 jobs created during the event directly and indirectly in such related business areas as the exhibition, lodging, transportation, and tourism industries, Kogas said.

Korea recently became the 8th country to join the ‘Trillion Dollar Club’ for GDP value and is continuing to drive demands in the region for natural gas and LNG. KOGAS is the world’s largest single importer of LNG and currently operates three major LNG receiving terminals and a nationwide gas pipeline network. As the nation’s sole importer of LNG, KOGAS is critical to supplying the industrial and domestic gas requirements of the nation.

The Korean government is also one of the leading investors in international gas and oil partnerships and has a growing upstream portfolio. Activity includes investments into ‘unconventional’ shale gas resources, with interests all over the globe as the government seeks out new resources to power its thriving economy. Korean shipyards now produce more than two-thirds of the world’s LNG, gas, and chemical tankers and have internationally-leading reputations for technological research and development initiatives. Original Equipment Manufacturing is booming and contracts between international companies and Korean firms are signed on a daily basis.