Employees stand next to a land gas field production facility operated by Senex Energy in Australia. Courtesy of POSCO International

By Kim Jae-heun

POSCO International will invest 300 million Australian dollars in its subsidiary, Senex Energy, together with Australian energy firm Hancock Energy, to increase its natural gas production by three times over the next three years, the company said Sunday.

POSCO aims to expand the annual gas production of Senex Energy from 20 petajoules to 60 petajoules by the fourth quarter of 2025. Sixty petajoules of natural gas can produce about 1.2 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

It also plans to increase drilling production volume by expanding gas facilities in the Atlas and Romanos gas fields by 2024 through Senex Energy.

POSCO International said it is the right timing to develop additional gas fields as natural gas prices are expected to remain high for a long time, due to severe competition to secure the energy resource and conversion of coal power generation as well as seasonal factors.

The company will pursue the follow-up development of existing gas fields, while conducting drilling evaluations for both Artemis and Rockybar mine lots and purchasing additional gas fields.

In addition, it plans to contribute to stabilizing domestic energy supply by preparing a plan to import some of the increased natural gas production into Korea as LNG. Starting with imports of up to 400,000 tons of LNG into Korea in 2025, the company will gradually expand the volume.

POSCO International will also accelerate eco-friendly aspects within its energy business, such as green hydrogen production with Senex Energy.

The company will start construction of a solar power demonstration plant for green hydrogen production in the fourth quarter of this year in cooperation with CS Energy, a state-owned power plant in Queensland, Australia.