South Korea Turns Back to Coal as LNG Crisis Deepens

Soaring prices of spot LNG supply amid the lack of Middle Eastern deliveries have pushed South Korea to rely more on coal-fired power generation in the coming winter, despite its pledge to shift away from fossil fuels. Like all other Asian importers, South Korea, the world’s third-largest LNG buyer after China and Japan, has been hit by the Middle East crisis and the lack of Qatari LNG supply. Soaring spot LNG prices for supply not needing the Strait of Hormuz have made running gas-fired plants uneconomical compared to coal. In the…