PetroChina, Qatargas and Shell sign first long-term Qatar - China LNG deal

The agreements were signed in Beijing by His Excellency Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar, Mr. Jiang Jiemin, President of China National Petroleum Corporation and Chairman of PetroChina Company Ltd and Ms. Linda Cook, Executive Director of Royal Dutch Shell plc.

The LNG will be provided from the Qatargas 4 project in Qatar and shipped to PetroChina's LNG receiving terminals upon the start-up of commercial operations of these facilities. The agreements are for 3 million tonnes per annum of LNG for 25 years.

Qatar, already the world's largest LNG exporter, is set to expand production to 77 million tonnes per annum by 2010. Chinese companies have previously signed long-term LNG supply agreements with projects in Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia.

HE Minister Al-Attiyah said today: 'I see China as an important customer for Qatar in the future. I am proud that under the wise guidance of His Highness The Emir, Qatar will be able to supply cleaner energy to contribute to the Chinese success story and China will be able to contribute to Qatari success as a customer for our natural resources.'

Mr. Jiang Jiemin said: 'These agreements with Qatar, a world-leading LNG producer, add diversity to China's energy supply. The cleaner energy from LNG will contribute to fuelling China's fast and sustainable economic development. We look forward to a long and mutually-beneficial partnership with the Qataris.'

Ms. Linda Cook said: 'These agreements underline the partnerships that Shell is building with both suppliers and consumers to help meet the global energy challenge. Qatar is the giant of the LNG sector and China is emerging as a very significant gas market. Linking supply and demand through long-term agreements should be of tremendous benefit to both sides.'

The Qatargas 4 LNG project, currently under construction in Qatar, is a partnership between Qatar Petroleum (70%) and Shell (30%). Shell has the largest global position in LNG amongst the major international energy companies.