Yemen Wants Korea to Pay More for LNG

Yemen has asked South Korea to adjust the price it pays for the LNG before the end of 2013 in line with the global market prices.

The issue was discussed during a meeting on Wednesday between Yemeni Prime Minister Mohamed Salem Basindwa and Korean ambassador to Yemen Lee Young-ho, Yemen News Agency reported.

Basindwa told the ambassador that lower price has resulted in loss of millions of dollars in earnings over the past years, the news agency added.

According to The Peninsula, South Korea paid an average price of $317.30 per tonne for Yemeni LNG in July, compared with $952.60 for Qatari LNG and $793.20 for Russian LNG.

Kogas holds a 6 percent stake in the Yemen LNG facility, which led by France's Total.

In 2005, Yemen LNG signed 20-year sales agreements with Kogas, GDF Suez and Total, which the Yemeni government has since complained undervalue the gas and deprive it of much needed public funds, The Peninsula said.