SOUTH KOREA’S Kogas is understood to be considering a subsea route to pipe LNG imports from Russia to the country as an alternative to a previously-proposed onshore pipeline via North Korea, the Yonhap News Agency reported recently. “The plan to build an underwater pipeline came up during talks with Gazprom President Alexei Miller and experts at Russia’s Pacific Ocean Institute in Vladivostok last week,” Kogas’ CEO Choo Kang-soo told the news agency.
Korea Gas signed an agreement with Gazprom in September to import 7.5 million tonnes of gas. The attempt to get North Korea's consent to build a pipeline in its territory comes as ties between the two countries grow chilly after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who took office in February, vowed to take a tougher line on its neighbour than his predecessors. A pipeline via North Korea is expected to be more economical, although a subsea link from Vladivostok to Samcheok on South Korea's eastern coast is a possible route, Mr Choo was quoted as saying in Seoul.
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