China to buy additional LNG from Gorgon: Report
04 Sep 2009
China may be considering buying another 2 billion tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year from the $50 billion Gorgon project off Western Australia.
The news comes two weeks after PetroChina signed a deal with ExxonMobil for the purchase of 2.25 million tones of LNG a year from Gorgon over a 20 year period which was billed as Australia's biggest ever trade deal valued at $50 billion.
According to market sources Chevron is in talks with China National Offshore Oil Corp (DNOOC) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) to sell a part of its remaining 3 million tonnes of LNG a year.
In 2005, Chevron signed a deal for the supply of 4.3 million tonnes of LNG a year to Tokyo Gas, Chubu Electric Power and Osaka Gas for 25 years.
The company also has a deal with GS Caltex Corp in South Korea to supply 250,000 tonnes a year.
China seems to be in a hurry to pick up all the LNG it can get but with Gorgon partners yet to make a final investment decision, the deal may not materialise till then.
