Page 6 - AsianOil Week 06 2023

AsianOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AsianOil

South Korean industry giant POSCO

to increase LNG storage capability

SOUTH KOREA THE trading arm of one of South Korea’s lead- Sources in South Korea also suggest that the
ing steel makers, Pohang Iron and Steel Co. firm is planning to invest heavily, to the tune of
As of 2021, numbers (POSCO) has announced a plan to increase its $755mn (KRW930bn) in order to add increased
point to the POSCO existing LNG storage capacity at Tank 6 of its capacity by way of additional tanks, numbered 7
Gwangyang Terminal Gwangyang terminal to 930,000 kilolitres by the and 8 at the same site, by 2025.
processing an estimated middle of 2024. The rebuilt tanks will be used primarily to
3.4mn tonnes per year As of 2021, numbers point to the POSCO supply power to the firm’s own nearby steel mills
(tpy) of LNG. Gwangyang Terminal processing an estimated and the surrounding city, as well as helping to
3.4mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG. add to South Korea’s overall national energy
POSCO International Holdings made the security.
announcement in its bid in part to help local POSCO’s Gwangyang terminal is alone
households reduce heating costs, while also responsible for 7.4% of all South Korean annual
helping to counter stubbornly high LNG prices LNG imports.
across much of Asia in recent months. In a statement released to announce the
Work is already ongoing at the Gwangyang investment, a POSCO spokesperson said: “The
Terminal site just outside the city of the same new terminal will be another growth engine for
name, according to local media, on the southern Korean industry at Gwangyang, a city where
coast of the Korean peninsula, and it is believed Korea’s first commercial operation of LNG ter-
that the walls of the upgraded Tank 6 will employ minals started in 2005, along with POSCO’s leap
high manganese steel and insulation developed forward in the steel industry.”
and produced on site by POSCO. Addressing the increase in LNG storage
Located around 120 km west of the nation’s capacity directly, the company added: “The
second-largest city and biggest port, Busan, company has embarked on a full-fledged move
and 300 km south of the capital Seoul, the rela- to evolve into an eco-friendly general business
tively protected waters of Gwangyang have long company by strengthening its energy value chain
served to support the region’s shipbuilding and and [this] is a project promoted to stably secure
steel-making industries. midstream (LNG storage) infrastructure assets.
The POSCO Gwangyang Steel Works are the POSCO International is the only energy com-
largest such facilities in the world. pany in Korea that has an LNG value chain from
When complete, it is estimated that the new exploration to production, storage and power
addition to the terminal will increase its overall generation.”
capacity to around 2.13mn kilolitres of LNG if Much was also made of the creation of around
filled. 600 local jobs, and adding to local infrastructure
“This is the capacity to store heating gas as the project was unveiled, but also to efforts
that can be used by the entire population for by POSCO to bolster Korea's wider efforts at
40 days. When the expansion is completed decarbonisation; such moves have proved pop-
sequentially by 2025, Gwangyang LNG Termi- ular with investors in recent years, with POSCO
nal will become the No. 1 private terminal in International for the first time moving past the
Korea, and the No. 11 terminal in the world” KRW1 trillion ($792bn) operating profit mark
POSCO said. in 2022. ™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 06 10•February•2023