S.Korea plans $21.5 bln overseas energy investment

SEOUL, Dec 16 (Reuters) - South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) said on Sunday it would invest 20 trillion won ($21.51 billion) over the next 10 years in overseas energy development projects in a bid to secure energy reserves.

The investment will be shared among three state-led energy firms -- the Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC), Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) and Korea Resources Corp (KORES), the pension service said in a statement.

"An operation committee consisting of officials from the three firms will be responsible for making investment decisions, said Kim Ho-shik, president of the NPS.

"But we will invest mostly in oil or gas fields that are already in production since it would be too risky to go for fields only under exploration," he added.

South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude oil buyer, has been hunting for overseas energy projects with the aim of getting at least 20 percent of oil and gas from its own fields by 2013.

The national pension fund, which oversees more than $200 billion in assets, has been diversifying its portfolio in pursuit of higher returns. It collects 9 percent of wages from a third of the country's 48 million people and their employers.

The NPS has said previously it intends to become the world's second-biggest pension fund with a forecast 400 trillion won in assets by 2012.

It currently owns about 3 percent of South Korean stocks by market value and expects the proportion to rise to about 6 percent by 2012. ($1=929.7 Won) (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Alan Raybould)