State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) extended a preliminary agreement to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Woodside Petroleum Ltd’s Browse venture and said it wants to acquire as much as 10 percent of the project.
The accord was due to expire in October and has been extended by a year, CPC vice president Lin Maw-wen (林茂文) said in a telephone interview yesterday. The two companies agreed in 2007 to the sale of as much as 3 million tonnes a year of LNG starting in 2013 to 2015. A formal contract has yet to be signed, Lin said.
“We’re in close contact on for the deal,” Lin said.
CPC wants to broaden the agreement to include the purchase of natural gas condensate and the acquisition of as much as a 10 percent stake in the project, he said.
Yvonne Ball, a spokeswoman for Perth-based Woodside, declined to comment. She referred to a Jan. 4 statement in which the company said it was continuing to negotiate with CPC.
Woodside has also agreed to advance talks with Osaka Gas Co for the potential sale of up to 1.5 million tonnes of fuel a year.
Taiwan imports about 97 percent of its natural gas needs in liquid form and is Asia’s third-biggest buyer of LNG. Japan and South Korea were Asia’s largest buyers of LNG in 2008, according to BP PLC.
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