SK Innovation E&S moved to secure a long-term LNG supply chain by bringing into Korea liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced at Australia's Barossa gas field. This is the first time a domestic private corporations has independently carried out the entire process from overseas gas field exploration to development, production and import to bring in LNG.
On the 24th, SK Innovation E&S said LNG produced at Australia's Barossa gas field made its first call at the Boryeong LNG terminal on the 23rd. The LNG brought in this time was produced from natural gas offshore in northwestern Australia, liquefied at the Darwin LNG terminal and shipped to Korea.
Starting with this import, SK Innovation E&S will supply about 1.3 million tons per year, a total of 26 million tons of LNG over the next 20 years, to Korea. That is about 3% of the country's annual LNG imports.
SK Innovation E&S has pursued the project for about 14 years since investing equity in the Barossa gas field in 2012. By directly securing overseas gas field equity and importing the LNG produced on a long-term basis, the company expects to respond to uncertainty in the global energy supply chain and contribute to strengthening national energy security.
In particular, the project was developed using the existing Darwin LNG terminal, cutting investment expense and improving economics. Australia is closer than the Middle East or the United States in transport distance, which is advantageous for reducing logistics costs and ensuring stable supply.
A company official said, "This achievement is an extension of SK's resource development efforts over more than 40 years," adding, "The late Choi Jong-hyun, SK's former chairman, actively pursued investment in the Karimun block in Indonesia in 1983 and presented the dream of a 'resource-poor oil-producing nation,' and SK succeeded in overseas crude oil production starting with an oil discovery in North Yemen in 1984."
SK Innovation has grown into a global energy corporations by expanding its business scope from oil to LNG. It currently holds about 20 million barrels per year of crude oil and gas and about 6 million tons of LNG asset across 11 countries worldwide.