SEOUL: South Korea's state-run Korea Gas has won a 1.1-billion-dollar deal to jointly develop natural gas fields in Canada with Canadian gas firm Encana, a news report said Sunday.

Korea Gas has acquired a combined 50-percent stake in three Encana oil fields in northeast British Columbia under the deal, Yonhap news agency said.

Korea Gas will invest 1.1 billion dollars to build gas exploration and production facilities in the fields, expecting to produce 1.1 million tons of natural gas every year for 40 years from 2017, it said.

South Korea annually consumes around 25 million tons of natural gas.

South Korea is the world's fifth largest crude importer. It has no proven oil or gas reserves on its own territory.