State-run monopoly Korea Gas Corp saw its January domestic sales of liquefied natural gas decline by 8.2 per cent as power utility firms heeded its warning of a possible shortage during winter and cut consumption.

Kogas sold 2.86-million mt of LNG in January, down from 3.12-million mt a year earlier, the company said.
In January, its sales to power generators retreated by 21 per cent on the year to 796,462-mil mt while sales to retail gas companies declined by 2.1 per cent to 2.07-million mt.
The decrease in January sales contrasted with the situation in December 2005, when Kogas's reported a 36.9 per cent jump in sales from a year earlier due to surging heating demand amid a colder-than-usual winter.
Kogas then warned that if the trend of rising gas consumption did not abate, a temporary shortage of LNG inventories in the country might arise in the event of any global supply disruptions.
South Korean power utilities heeded the warning and boosted operations of heavy oil-powered generators in January, while at the same time reducing consumption of natural gas, Kogas said.
Kogas sold a total of 22.86-million mt of LNG in 2005, up 7.2 per cent from 2004. 
Kogas, which has a monopoly on the import and wholesale of LNG in the country, is the world's single largest LNG buyer.
In a separate development, a government report said the amount South Korea paid to import crude oil soared to record highs in January.
The latest figures showed that crude oil imports for the month rose 18.8 per cent from January 2005 to 74.3 million barrels, with import costs jumping 74.5 per cent to US$4.19 billion, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said.
It said the amount was higher than the previous record of $4.16 billion used to import crude in September 2005. The monthly tally also showed imports of oil-related products rising 12.6 per cent in the month to 14.2 million barrels, totaling $724.0 million to form an increase of 36.9 per cent from the corresponding period one year earlier.