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How South Korea Buys LNG—and Who Sets Its Price

KOGAS is South Korea’s main LNG importer, but contract prices are negotiated rather than set at one national import price. Benchmarks and domestic tariff rules shape what buyers and consumers pay.
From TheFinanceBase Team5 min to read
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South Korea does not have one government-set price for imported LNG. Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) is the country’s main importer and supplier, but other companies also import gas. Buyers negotiate contracts with suppliers, often using benchmarks such as JKM, Brent crude, or Henry Hub. KOGAS then applies domestic gas-tariff arrangements that affect how its costs are allocated to power plants and other consumers.

How South Korea buys LNG

South Korea relies on a mix of long-term and other forward contracts, shorter-term deals, and spot cargoes. Long-term arrangements can support supply planning, while shorter-term procurement gives buyers another way to respond to changing demand and market conditions. The contract mix does not mean every cargo has the same price formula.

KOGAS is the main buyer, but not the only one

KOGAS is central to the Korean gas system, but some companies also import LNG directly. Yonhap News Agency reported that KOGAS accounted for 78.8% of South Korea’s LNG imports in 2023. That is a dated share for that year, not a current market-share estimate.

Government and industry announcements also describe efforts to renew and diversify supply contracts. A May 2, 2024 release from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said new long- and short-term contracts were being pursued. A 2025 U.S. International Trade Administration overview reported long-term deals with Trafigura, TotalEnergies, and QatarEnergy totaling 4.3 million tons. The overview does not establish a precise period or annual flow rate for that total, so it should not be read as a current annual import figure.

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Contracts and spot purchases serve different roles

A buyer may arrange supply well in advance or seek cargoes on shorter notice. The balance between these approaches affects exposure to market movements, but published examples do not establish the exact mix or full terms of every active Korean contract. KOGAS also has LNG-related resource investments: its company page listed eight LNG-related projects within an 11-country, 18-project portfolio at the end of December 2024. Those investments are distinct from the prices and terms negotiated in LNG purchase contracts.

Who sets the price of imported LNG?

Import prices are negotiated by buyers and sellers under individual contracts; there is no single Korean authority that sets one LNG import price for all buyers. Contracts may refer to different international benchmarks, and the benchmark is only one part of the final deal.

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Price reference or term What it means for a buyer What published reporting establishes
JKM A regional LNG benchmark used in some contracts or tenders. S&P Global reported JKM-linked Korean short-term contracts for 2025–2027.
Brent crude An oil benchmark that can be used in a negotiated LNG pricing formula. S&P Global described tender mechanisms referencing ICE Brent.
Henry Hub A U.S. natural-gas benchmark that can be referenced in procurement. S&P Global described tender mechanisms referencing Henry Hub.
Contract duration, timing, and flexibility Negotiated features that can affect the effective value or cost of a deal, alongside the benchmark. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s December 2025 report discusses flexibility in connection with discounts on Korean JKM-linked short-term awards.

S&P Global reported discounts of roughly US$0.20–$0.50 per MMBtu below the full-month JKM average for selected contracts. That is an example for those reported deals, not a standard discount for Korean LNG purchases. Contract length, cargo timing, volume flexibility, and other terms can also matter; the ACCC’s December 2025 analysis does not disclose every active contract’s full formula.

How KOGAS allocates gas costs domestically

An import-contract price and a domestic gas tariff are different layers. KOGAS describes two arrangements relevant to gas sold for power generation: the Individual Gas Tariff (IGT) and the Average Gas Tariff (AGT).

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Arrangement How KOGAS describes it Who it applies to
IGT Directly associates a particular LNG sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with a power plant. Power plants seeking gas supply since January 2022 can apply. It is not automatically in place for every plant or customer.
AGT Averages the prices of valid SPAs across consumers. Plants already under valid AGT contracts continue on those contracts for their contract period; KOGAS describes the arrangement as applying across consumers, including power plants and city-gas consumers.

The practical distinction is whether a plant’s gas supply is associated with a specific SPA or priced through an average of valid SPAs. The KOGAS explanation does not mean that every customer’s bill is a direct, immediate copy of a spot-market index.

What this means for electricity and city-gas users

Power plants

For a power plant buying gas through KOGAS, the IGT or AGT arrangement shapes how the underlying SPA costs are allocated. A change in international LNG prices can therefore affect the cost of gas supplied for generation, but the contract and tariff arrangement determine how that exposure is reflected. The cited material does not establish a single, immediate pass-through from a daily LNG benchmark to a household electricity bill.

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City-gas customers

City-gas tariffs have their own cost-adjustment rules. A Korean Exchange filing describes raw-material cost adjustments linked to oil prices and exchange rates, with different adjustment cycles for household, commercial, and gas-fired-power categories. This means domestic tariff movements are not simply a daily copy of JKM. The filing describes the rules in that document; current rates and adjustment schedules should be checked against the latest tariff notices.

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How to interpret reported LNG price figures

Annual import statistics, individual contract terms, and current spot quotes answer different questions. EG-TIPS, citing the Korea Energy Economics Institute’s preliminary annual figures in the April 2025 Energy Statistics Monthly, reported a 2024 LNG import unit price of US$632 per ton. That is a retrospective national aggregate, not the quote for a current cargo or the price paid under every contract.

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  • For the overall annual import cost: use an annual national statistic, while retaining its year and preliminary or final status.
  • For a contract or cargo: identify the buyer, benchmark, contract period, and negotiated terms; one selected award cannot represent the whole portfolio.
  • For a household or business bill: look at the relevant domestic tariff and adjustment rules, not just an international LNG benchmark.

Public reporting cited here does not establish the full current formula and price for every Korean LNG SPA. Treat individual tender examples as examples, and distinguish them from aggregate import statistics and domestic tariff prices.

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