South Korea will raise retail natural gas prices for households and industry by an average of 6.1% from November 1 to reflect higher LNG import costs, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Friday.
It marks the first hike in city gas rate since September last year. The rate was cut three times this year -- 5.6% in May, 9.5% in March and 9% in January. South Korea cut city gas rates by more than 20% last year on lower import prices.
"International oil prices have increased, boosting LNG import costs, so the government has decided to raise city gas rates from November 1," the ministry said in a statement.
LNG sales by state-owned Korea Gas Corp., which has a monopoly on domestic natural gas sales, fell 0.2% year on year to 1.969 million mt in September. The September sales were also down 10.4% from 2.197 million mt in August.
Kogas' LNG sales rose in July and August because of an unusual heatwave hiking electricity demand.
For the first nine months of the year, Kogas' LNG sales are estimated at 23.107 million mt, down 0.3% from 23.184 million mt a year earlier.
The state-owned utility sold 31.46 million mt of LNG last year, down 10.6% from 2014, the second consecutive year of decline.
