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The government¡¯s mid and long-term plan to diversify energy import
sources has met an unexpected obstacle since China is about to buy all
natural gas in wells in Burma¡¯s offshore area. The wells were explored
and developed by Daewoo International and the Korea Gas Corporation
with a 70 percent stake. Korea hoped to secure one more direct energy
import source as part of its plan to reduce its reliance on Middle
Eastern energy. But the Burmese government¡¯s decision to sell all the
gas to China deals a devastating blow to Korea¡¯s plan. The Burmese well
holds a gas reserve of 4.5 to 8.5 trillion cubic feet, the largest
among overseas gas reserves Korean companies have developed. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy on Wednesday said
Burma recently decided to sell to China the right to purchase natural
gas developed in the A1 and A3 gas wells off its northwestern coast. A
senior government official said the official announcement is pending,
but Burma accepted China¡¯s offer to install pipelines linking the two
countries for free. A government official said this was tantamount to China
¡°intercepting¡± an energy resource developed with Korean money and
technology. ¡°Basically, the government¡¯s diplomatic efforts to
consolidate the nation¡¯s energy independence have failed,¡± he added. In
addition to the Korean companies, Indian Oil and the Gas Authority of
India participated in the consortium to explore the oil wells, which
will produce natural gas starting 2009. In a bid to boost its energy
independence, the Korean government had planned to directly import 2.7
million tons of natural gas a year, more than 11 percent of last year¡¯s
imports. The government dispatched a delegation led by the ministry¡¯s
Trade Investment Director Lee Jae-hun to persuade Burma to directly
sell the developed gas to Korea. Korea offered incentives like
supporting the establishment of electricity infrastructure in the
Southeast Asian country. But it failed to buy agreement in the face of
China¡¯s all-out efforts. ¡°On the day we arrived in Burma, a Chinese
delegation led by Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan arrived there,¡±
a government official said. ¡°We realized that Korea¡¯s diplomatic power
just wasn¡¯t strong enough to beat China.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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