[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Securities forecast state-run Korea Gas Corp.’s second quarter operating profit will jump 417.3 percent on-year to 19 billion won (US$16.73 million) on improved earnings from overseas exploration and production businesses. Revenue, however, was expected to fall 15.4 percent to 4.2 trillion won on declining sales in liquefied natural gas.Further undermining KOGAS’ profit in the latter half of the year is its recent decision to suspend its development program in Iraq’s Akkas

[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Securities said Korea Gas Corporation ’s stocks are considerably undervalued, trading at around 0.33 times price-to-book value. “We expect that KOGAS’ profit from overseas resources development projects to bottom out from July while domestic sales of liquefied natural gas remain stable,” said Yang Ji-hye, an analyst at the securities firm. Samsung Securities maintained its buy rating and price target of 58,000 won (US$49.90) for KOGAS. The stock was up 1.26 percent to 40,3

[THE INVESTOR] The South Korean government will tightly restrict state-run energy firms’ new investment in overseas resource development in the midst of low oil prices as the government pushes for sweeping restructuring efforts, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on June 30. The ministry will strengthen monitoring on loss-making overseas assets of public energy firms such as the Korea National Oil, the Korea Gas and the Korea Resources. “All their oversea assets will be subject to t

Korea's state-run energy firms will offload their loss-making overseas assets to improve their balance sheets in the midst of low oil prices as the government pushes for sweeping restructuring and downsizing efforts, the trade ministry said Wednesday.The Korea National Oil Corp., the Korea Gas Corp. and the Korea Resources Corp. run a combined 91 exploring operations outside Korea as the former Lee Myung-bak administration put its policy priority on winning overseas resource development projects

[THE INVESTOR] Korea relies on imports for 96 percent of primary energy sources and 99 percent of key mineral resources. In the 2015 Energy Sustainability Index released by the World Energy Council, the country ranked 121st, far behind China and Japan, which placed Nos. 21 and 83, respectively.This means that Korea needs to implement a consistent, efficient and long-term policy for developing resources abroad. But it has failed to do so over the past years, with President Park Geun-hye’s governm

Resources development policy hobbled by inconsistencyBy Kim Kyung-ho Korea relies on imports for 96 percent of primary energy sources and 99 percent of key mineral resources. In the 2015 Energy Sustainability Index released by the World Energy Council, the country ranked 121st, far behind China and Japan, which placed Nos. 21 and 83, respectively.This means that Korea needs to implement a consistent, efficient and long-term policy for developing resources abroad. But it has failed to do so over

The South Korean government said Tuesday that it will downsize state-run energy and resource development companies and open the power supply market to the private sector as part of its industry-wide corporate restructuring efforts to increase adaptability to a global low oil price trend.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy unveiled a set of restructuring plans for public firms at a workshop presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Yoo Il-ho in Seoul.

The market was unnerved Thursday with the report by a management consultancy firm that proposed restructuring state-run Korea National Oil Corp.’s money-losing overseas crude oil development business. The report by Deloitte Anjin -- Korean member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu -- on reforms in the overseas businesses of state-run energy companies was commissioned by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The offshore oil drilling facility of Dana Petroleum, the U.K. explorer focusing on th

Korea's three major energy-related public companies are to pay back more than 8 trillion won ($6.8 billion) in debts maturing this year, which stemmed from their heavily leveraged investments in overseas energy assets, government data showed Tuesday.The Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC), the Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) and the Korea Resources Corp. (KORES) carry a collective maturing debt of 8.29 trillion won to be paid back by the end of 2016, according to the All Public Information In-One (ALIO)."To

With a sluggish economy and growing tension on the Korean Peninsula, the beleaguered government is desperately trying to seek a “breakthrough.” We cannot smoothly exit the current situation without taking any initiatives, just as we had surmounted past trials. For instance, construction and engineering companies have been suffering dues to losses from overseas projects and decreasing market share due to the curtailed or suspended number of oil and gas projects after the oil price drop in recent

Korea Gas Corp. on Monday denied a local report that it plans to invest in South Pars gas field in Iran, making it the first Korean company to invest in the Middle East country that had been slapped with international economic sanctions over its nuclear program.According to local reports quoting officials at the Trade Ministry, the state-run company recently sent its officials to discuss ways to invest in the world’s largest gas field, which has been running behind in its development schedule du

South Korean stock fell 0.54 percent Monday as foreign investors continued to dump local stocks ahead of a rate-setting meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve next week. The local currency lost ground sharply against the U.S. dollar.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 10.73 points to 1,963.67. Trade volume was slim at 375 million shares worth 3.35 trillion won ($2.87 billion), with decliners beating winners 527 to 293.  "The market wants to see the result of the Fed meeting, alth

LNG COOPERATION -- ExxonMobil vice president of gas and power marketing Richard Guerrant (left) and the president and Korea Gas Corp. chief executive Lee Seung-hoon pose after signing a memorandum of understanding to jointly pursue new opportunities in the natural gas value chain at a ceremony held in Seoul on Wednesday. LNG -- a cleaner burner fuel compared to other non-renewable energy sources -- is expected to replace coal as the No. 2 global source of energy, a shift that reflects the versat

South Korea’s state-run gas corporation said Wednesday that it will import 2.8 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually from the United States starting in 2017.The amount to be imported is equal to 10 percent of what the country needs per annum, Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) said. It added that bringing in LNG from North America can reduce the country’s dependence on imports from existing suppliers.Asia’s fourth largest economy is one of the largest consumers of natural gas in the world, w

Korea Gas Corp. president Lee Seung-hoon said Sunday that the state-run company will streamline its structure to focus more on the global business, aimed at becoming one of the key players in the international energy market. “The restructuring will provide the company with the momentum to become the world’s major energy developer, instead of being an importer of natural gas,” Lee said after his plan was approved by the board of directors on July 22. Lee, who was appointed on July 1, stressed tha