S.Korea, Russia to cooperate in gas development

South Korea and Russia signed an agreement on Tuesday to have closer cooperation in natural gas field development and natural gas supplies, said the South Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy.

Under the agreement, the state-run Korea Gas Corp. and Russia's natural gas producer of OAO Gazpromhe will discuss details of the accord on gas imports, the ministry said.

"The two companies will launch talks on gas imports from Russia, and South Korea will sign a new long-term contract with Russia in 2007 as soon as possible," said a statement of the ministry.

According to the ministry, South Korea will be able to import 7 million tons of liquefied natural gas, about one-third of the country's total LNG imports, through a pipeline from Russia since 2012.

The ministry said the two countries plan to discuss supplying Russian gas by pipeline, jointly operating natural gas terminals and exploring and developing gas in eastern Siberia.

Source: Xinhua