Royal Dutch Shell PLC and PetroChina have signed an agreement for China to buy up to 40 million tons of liquefied natural gas over 20 years, Shell said Tuesday.
The deal, signed in Beijing on Monday, stems from a conditional agreement by the two companies last year. Prices for the LNG and the amount of investment involved were not disclosed.
China has continued to lock in energy supplies to help meet long-term demand even as the global financial crisis crimps demand for resources.
"This is a significant step forward in the cooperation between Shell and PetroChina and highlights Shell's continued contribution to assist PetroChina in providing clean energy supplies to China," Shell's executive chairman in China, Lim Haw Kuang, said in a statement.
The agreement calls for Shell to sell up to 2 million tons of LNG a year, for 20 years, to PetroChina International Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of oil and gas producer PetroChina Co. Ltd., Shell said in the statement.
Part of the LNG will come from the Gorgon project offshore Australia's west coast, the official Xinhua News Agency said citing Shell China. The Gorgon gas fields are operated by Chevron Corp. which has a 50 percent stake. Shell and ExxonMobil Corp. each have a 25 percent stake in the project.
Calls to PetroChina's spokesman's office in Beijing rang unanswered Tuesday.
PetroChina earlier this year signed a 25-year agreement with Shell and Qatargas to buy 3 million tons of LNG a year from Qatar, the world's largest LNG exporter.
China is building new LNG terminals in anticipation of increased imports of the gas in coming years, as it seeks to shift away from reliance on heavily polluting coal to cleaner energy sources.
The deal, signed in Beijing on Monday, stems from a conditional agreement by the two companies last year. Prices for the LNG and the amount of investment involved were not disclosed.
China has continued to lock in energy supplies to help meet long-term demand even as the global financial crisis crimps demand for resources.
"This is a significant step forward in the cooperation between Shell and PetroChina and highlights Shell's continued contribution to assist PetroChina in providing clean energy supplies to China," Shell's executive chairman in China, Lim Haw Kuang, said in a statement.
The agreement calls for Shell to sell up to 2 million tons of LNG a year, for 20 years, to PetroChina International Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of oil and gas producer PetroChina Co. Ltd., Shell said in the statement.
Part of the LNG will come from the Gorgon project offshore Australia's west coast, the official Xinhua News Agency said citing Shell China. The Gorgon gas fields are operated by Chevron Corp. which has a 50 percent stake. Shell and ExxonMobil Corp. each have a 25 percent stake in the project.
Calls to PetroChina's spokesman's office in Beijing rang unanswered Tuesday.
PetroChina earlier this year signed a 25-year agreement with Shell and Qatargas to buy 3 million tons of LNG a year from Qatar, the world's largest LNG exporter.
China is building new LNG terminals in anticipation of increased imports of the gas in coming years, as it seeks to shift away from reliance on heavily polluting coal to cleaner energy sources.