Korea to buy $100B of U.S. energy

[Anchor]

Now, let's take a look at the plan to purchase $100 billion worth of American energy.

The government explains that this means buying more crude oil and gas from the U.S. than before.

However, are there any concerns? Reporter Lee Jae-hee has investigated.

[Report]

Last year, the energy imported by South Korea, including crude oil and natural gas, amounted to $160 billion.

From the U.S., about 14%, or $23.2 billion worth, was imported.

This time, South Korea has decided to import $100 billion worth of American energy over four years, which is $25 billion per year, and the government believes this is manageable.

[Koo Yoon-cheol/Minister of Economy and Finance: "We believe that expanding our energy purchasing sources to the U.S. will not impose additional burdens on our economy."]

The long-term contract for about 9 million tons of LNG with Qatar and Oman also ended at the end of last year.

Even if some of it is replaced with American products, achieving the goal is possible.

The issue is economic feasibility.

Currently, the price of American energy is cheaper compared to other production areas, and there are no tariffs due to the FTA.

On the other hand, the distance by sea from Korea to the U.S. is nearly twice as far as to the Middle East.

Naturally, transportation costs are high.

[Yoo Seung-hoon/Professor of Energy Policy, Seoul Tech: "If negotiations go well, we need to ensure that American natural gas is sold cheaper than Middle Eastern gas to make it competitive."]

There is also the issue that private companies cannot be forced to purchase.

[Jo Sang-beom/Director of External Cooperation, Korea Petroleum Association: "Since it is privatized, oil companies evaluate the economic feasibility of importing crude oil from the U.S. versus other regions."]

The agreement does not include investments in the Alaska LNG project that were part of U.S.-Japan negotiations.

This is KBS News, Lee Jae-hee.