KOREA GAS RECEIVES LNG SPOT CARGO FROM NIGERIA AT PYEONGTAEK

Korea Gas Corp.,the world’s largest commercial buyer of liquefied natural gas, received a spot cargo from Nigeria, ship-tracking data show.

The Methane Heather Sally, with about 143,000 cubic meters of capacity, docked at the Pyeongtaek terminal on South Korea’s west coast today, according to transmissions captured by IHS Fairplay on Bloomberg. It loaded the supercooled gas at Nigeria LNG Ltd.’s Bonny Island terminal and departed Dec. 12.

Kogas, as the state-owned company is known, is seeking three spot cargoes to be delivered by March, an official said on Dec. 11, asking not to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak to the media.

South Korea doesn’t have long-term LNG contracts with Nigeria, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It was the world’s largest buyer in 2012 after Japan with imports of 36.77 million metric tons, according to the industry-funded International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers.

Asian LNG importers typically purchase more spot shipments from December to March to meet peak heating and power demand during winter in the northern hemisphere.

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