South Korea's state-owned Korea Gas Corporation said Wednesday that it sold a total 33.57 million mt of LNG in 2011, up 7.6% from 31.20 million mt in 2010 on the back of economic recovery and non-typical temperatures in summer and winter which boosted power demand.
Sales to power generators rose 11.9% to 15.32 million mt last year, compared with 13.68 million mt in 2010, the company said in a regulatory filing. Retail gas companies bought 18.26 million mt in 2011, up 4.2% from the previous year when they bought 17.52 million mt.
Kogas, which has a monopoly on domestic natural gas sales, sold 4.18 million mt of LNG in December, up 2.1% from 4.10 million mt a year ago.
During the month, sales to power generators gained 2.2% year on year to 1.69 million mt, while sales to retail gas companies for household and business consumption gained 1.9% to 2.48 million mt.
In November last year, Kogas saw its first decline in LNG sales in more than two years with sales sliding 8.9% year on year to 2.71 million due to weak heating demand.
In 2010, the company's LNG sales jumped 26.6% to 31.20 million mt after falling 6.5% year on year to 24.64 million in 2009.
