New CEO Lee Seung-hoon of Korea Gas Corp. talks with a staff of the company during his inspection of the worksites.(Photo:Kogas)

President Lee Seung-hoon of Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) said he will continue to push for the exploration of gas fields overseas during his term of office, despite the outcry against Kogas’ operations overseas.

During his first media briefing since his arrival at Kogas as CEO, he said Kogas so far lost investments in the up-stream side of its operation, but from now the company will focus on the mid-level, which includes processing and refinement, and the down-stream area, such as transportation of the processed gas and its products.

He also said he is planning on to set up an LNG production base on the West Coast of the U.S. and supply the gas to Southeast Asian countries. An abundance of natural gas in Canada and the United States has created a glut of gas in those counties.  

He plans to set up the LNG production terminal where pipelines and other facilities are already in place, which would help cut the costs of LNG produced in the Pacific region of North America by around 30 percent.

He said cash for the construction of the projected LNG terminal will be financed through project financing, as he is well aware of the criticism against Kogas losing so much of its investments in gas exploration projects overseas and the PF would not deepen the company’s financial problems.

Kogas projects that it would require some 10 trillion won to build an LNG production plant with the annual capacity to produce 1,000 tons of LNG, which would be around 28 percent of the total LNG requirement in Korea. It will take around five years to complete the plant, the Kogas CEO said.

The new CEO also has a plan to boost the ranking of Kogas in the management evaluation of government-held companies to the C-level while he is in office from the E ranking the company got last year by improving the structures of gas importation and finance.

Korea Gas Corporation celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2013. 

“On behalf of everyone at KOGAS, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to all of our customers for their unwavering support over the past three decades as we have grown into a leading energy company,” the company said. “KOGAS has maintained solid growth through the years with its tireless innovation efforts and enterprising spirit. 

“And the driving force propelling us forward this whole time has been our founding philosophy, which is to always ensure that Korea has a safe and stable supply of natural gas. With the world’s largest total storage capacity (8.86 million), KOGAS has helped increase Korea’s natural gas supply rate up to 75 percent, making life more convenient for everyone through accessible energy.”

Today, KOGAS is involved in a number of exploration, development and production projects around the world in a bid to make Korea’s already stable supply of gas energy greater than ever before. We have been able to achieve all these remarkable feats as a result of KOGAS employees’ tireless passion and commitment. We always strive to measure up to the high expectations Koreans have of us as the nation’s leading energy company. 

KOGAS supplies natural gas for immediate use, while putting a certain amount in reserve for emergencies and diversifying procurement lines. In the future, KOGAS will continue to proactively develop natural gas supply plans in line with Korea’s energy master plan for the stable production, storage and supply of gas energy to the nation, the company said. 

Operating Around the World as Energy Leader

In line with its new Vision 2017, KOGAS is making efforts to attain its goal of raising the self-supply rate from 9 percent as of 2012 to 25 percent by 2017. Dedicated to Korea’s energy self-supply and a stable, economic supply of energy resources, KOGAS has channeled its resources into numerous global operations.

As of 2013, the company was active in 28 E&P, liquefaction and terminal operation projects in 17 countries around the world. Specifically, KOGAS proved its capabilities as a major project operator in Iraq’s Akkas project and as a resource developer with the successful discovery of a sizeable gas field in Mozambique.