Yemen has demanded that South Korea pay global market prices for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) before the end of this year, the Yemeni state news agency reported late on Wednesday.

Yemeni Prime Minister Mohamed Salem Basindwa told South Korea's new ambassador on Wednesday that the impoverished gas producer had lost hundreds of million of dollars of potential earnings over recent years because of the low price that state-run Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) secured in a long-term deal with Yemen's only gas export plant.

Korea, by far the biggest consumer of gas from Yemen, paid an average price of $317.30 per tonne for Yemeni LNG in July compared with $952.60 for Qatari LNG and $793.20 for Russian LNG, according to the latest Korean customs data.

Kogas holds a 6 per cent stake in the Yemen LNG facility, which is Yemen's largest-ever industrial project, led by France's Total.

In 2005, Yemen LNG signed 20-year sales agreements with Kogas, GDF Suez and Total, which the Yemeni government has since complained undervalue the gas and deprive it of much needed public funds.

According to the state-run Saba news agency, the Korean Ambassador said he fully understood how important an improved price deal was for the Yemeni people and that he would convey Yemen's demands to his government. - Reuters