South Korea, the world's second- biggest buyer of liquefied natural gas, increased imports of the fuel by 15.6 percent in June to boost stockpiles, according to a government report.

South Korea bought 1.48 million metric tons of the cleaner- burning fuel last month from 1.28 million tons a year earlier, the Korea International Trade Association said on its Web site today. The cost of the imported fuel rose 49 percent to $708 per ton from $474 a ton on higher crude prices. Oil rose to a record $147.27 on July 11 in New York.

Asian utilities, led by those in Japan, boosted LNG imports last year by 9.6 percent to 108 million tons, according to BP Plc's Statistical Review of World Energy June 2008. Imports rose because of lower temperatures, the substitution of oil products with cheaper gas and the closure of Japan's nuclear power plants.

``We're building our stocks for winter,'' said Kim In Kee, an investor relations official at Korea Gas.

Domestic natural-gas sales fell 7.5 percent in June to 1.42 million tons after power producers switched to cheaper coal, Korea Gas Corp., the world's biggest non-state LNG buyer, said on July 8.

``Sales fell last month, but we did not cut the import of natural gas,'' Kim said by phone from Seongnam. Korea typically imports more than half of its LNG in winter.

Coal-fired power plants that started operating last month led power producers to cut consumption of natural gas by 22 percent, Kim said.