Taiwan's LNG imports rise fourth month on power use

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan, Asia's third biggest importer of liquefied natural gas, increased purchases of the fuel for a fourth month as electricity demand rose. The island purchased 1.62 million kiloliters, or 733,000 metric tons, in November, compared with 722,000 tons a year earlier, e-mailed data from Taiwan's Bureau of Energy showed yesterday. It paid US$343 million, or US$467.94 a ton, last month.

Electricity sales at Taiwan Power Co., the island's monopoly grid operator, climbed 7.4 percent in November from a year earlier, according to a company newsletter. Taiwan's gross domestic product will probably grow 6.9 percent in the October- December period from a year earlier, after declining for five straight quarters, the cabinet's statistics bureau said in Taipei on Nov. 26.

Taiwan imported LNG on multiyear contracts from Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar. It received a total of 667,000 kiloliters of spot cargoes from Oman, Australia, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Russia, according to the bureau.

LNG is natural gas that's been chilled to liquid form, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original volume for transportation by ship to destinations not connected by pipeline. On arrival, it's turned back into gas for distribution to power plants, factories and households.

Japan and South Korea were Asia's largest buyers of LNG last year, according to BP Plc.