Total signs LNG deal with South Korea

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PARIS, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- French energy company Total said it signed a deal with South Korean partners for liquefied natural gas planned from a terminal in Louisiana.

Total's gas affiliate Total Gas and Power Ltd. signed a deal with South Korea's Korea Gas Corp. for the purchase of around 700,000 tons of LNG per year from the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana for the next 20 years.

"With this agreement, we are consolidating our leadership in a growing LNG market and taking a position in an LNG export market that is emerging in the United States," Total Gas and Power President Philippe Sauquet said in a statement.

The Sierra Club filed a formal protest with the U.S. Department of Energy over the Sabine terminal. The environmental group said the facility could lead to more hydraulic fracturing, a controversial method of extraction for natural gas in shale formations.

Total said gas deliveries were expected by 2017 from the terminal.