Sinopec signs 20-year purchase agreement with Australia Pacific LNG
Shanghai. April 22. INTERFAX-CHINA - China Petroleum Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), the Shanghai Stock Exchange-listed arm of China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec Group), signed a purchase and sale agreement (PSA) with Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd. (APLNG) April 21, Sinopec announced same day.
The PSA calls for Sinopec to secure 4.3 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually over 20 years beginning in 2015. This follows an preliminary agreement signed between the two companies in February, Interfax previously reported.
APLNG will deliver the LNG to Sinopec's LNG terminal in southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The Guangxi Daily reported April 22 that the Guangxi LNG terminal will begin construction in the first half of 2012 and is scheduled to go online by June 2015. The terminal will cost RMB 16.8 billion ($2.58 billion) and have an annual receiving capacity of three million tons.
Additionally, Sinopec International Exploration and Production Corp. (SIPC), a subsidiary of Sinopec Group, will purchase a 15 percent stake in APLNG according to the PSA. The sale will dilute Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips's stakes in the company from 50 to 42.5 percent each.
In November 2009, Sinopec signed an agreement with Exxon Mobil to secure two million tons of LNG per year for 20 years.
Sinopec is currently building a LNG terminal with an annual receiving capacity of three million tons in Qingdao City, Shandong Province. The Qingdao LNG terminal is expected to go online in 2013.
-TW