South Korea, US agree on more than $20 billion gas plant investment in Texas, media reports

SEOUL, Sept 7 (Reuters) – South Korea and the United States have agreed on the size of Seoul’s planned investment in a gas project in Texas at around $22.3 billion, Korean media outlet Edaily reported on Monday, citing unidentified officials and politicians.

The project, which would be Seoul’s first U.S. investment under last year’s trade agreement, aims to build a 6.3-gigawatt gas plant in Encinal, Texas, to meet rising power demand for AI data centres, according to the media reports.

The investment would be part of the trade deal signed by the two allies last year, under which Seoul pledged $350 billion worth of U.S. investments in exchange for favourable U.S. tariffs on imports of South Korean goods.

The reports did not say whether Seoul would shoulder the whole cost of the Texas project.

Seoul is also considering other potential projects in the United States, including building a large-scale nuclear power plant or a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, the reports said.

South Korea’s Industry Ministry said reports on the Texas gas project were inaccurate and that consultations between Seoul and Washington were continuing, making it difficult to confirm specific details.

The South Korean government would make an announcement after completing negotiations with the U.S. and taking into account procedures such as parliamentary approval, the ministry added.

In a separate statement, the ministry said no decision had been made on building a nuclear power plant in the United States.

(Reporting by Heejin KimEditing by Ed Davies)