Korea Gas up over 2 pct on gas price hikes

SEOUL, July 16 (Reuters) - Shares of Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) (036460.KS) rose over 2 percent on Wednesday after the government announced that it will lift gas prices by 50 percent in the second half of the year due to soaring raw material prices.

The hike is likely to add to inflation pressure in South Korea, the world's 10th-largest energy consumer and No.5 crude oil importer, as the government already said it was considering allowing electricity price hikes in the latter half of the year.

Shares of KOGAS, the world's largest commercial importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), rose 2.14 percent as of 0059 GMT, trading at 71,500 won, and outperforming the wider market's 0.75 percent gain.

Last month, the government promised to provide around 1.2 trillion won ($1.19 billion) to gas and electricity firms to make up for their estimated losses resulting from frozen fares in the first six months of the year.

In May, state-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) (015760.KS) said its fuel costs would rise 2 trillion won this year due to higher oil and coal prices, and reported an operating loss of 219 billion won in the first quarter.

KOGAS will report its second-quarter earnings on July 29. (Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)