The state-run firm released a tender for a 1.5 million metric tonne per year, 4-year October-March deal in late July.

In a statement KOGAS said, “We had issued an invitation to bid to all six of our suppliers but received offers from only two of them, another indication of a tight market. The current market situation is not good for the buyers and we are not surprised that we only saw two offers into this tender.”

“The company plans to announce our preferred seller on August 20 and, once we have chosen our seller, we will negotiate the other terms of the contract and will close the deal by late-September,” it added.

KOGAS gets its LNG supplies from Qatar, Oman, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia. It is currently preparing tender documents for long term 20-year LNG contracts to take the place of the current ones which expire in 2007, as reported on Wednesday.