Qatar Liquefied Gas Company (Qatargas 1) has entered into a new long-term LNG sales and purchase agreement with the largest Japanese LNG buyer, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).

This is the first long-term bilateral agreement between Tepco and Qatargas. Under the terms of the agreement, Qatargas 1 will deliver one million tonnes per annum (MTA) of LNG on a long-term basis starting from 2012.

The agreement was signed by Dr Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry and chairman of the Board of Qatargas, in the presence of Takao Arai, managing director of Tepco.

Tepco is one of the original eight Japanese buyers who signed a multi-party contract with the Qatargas 1 venture back in 1994, and Qatargas first began delivering LNG to Japan and Tepco in 1997, with the start-up of the Qatargas 1 Project.

Dr Al-Sada said: “As the largest LNG-producing company in the world, Qatargas is committed to providing reliable energy supplies to all four corners of the world.  Today’s agreement reinforces our strong relationship with one of Qatargas’ foundation customers and demonstrates our continued long-term commitment to supply LNG to Japan.  We are doing all we can to support Japan's continuous requirement for stable energy supplies.”

Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatargas chief executive officer said: “This agreement is further testimony of our long-term reliable commitment to Japan and reinforces Qatargas’ global reputation as a safe and reliable supplier of LNG.  Qatargas’ relationship with Tepco goes as far back as 1994 when we signed an agreement with a consortium of Japanese buyers including Tepco.  Today, we are very pleased to add a new chapter to our long and fruitful partnership.”

Takao Arai, managing director, Tepco, added: “Having continuously been provided with the smooth and stable delivery from Qatargas since its first cargo received, we are confident that today’s execution of the contract between Qatargas, the world’s largest LNG supplier, and Tepco has further deepened the good relationship between the two companies and will greatly contribute to our future stable procurement of LNG”.

Under this new agreement together with existing arrangements, Qatargas will supply approximately two million tonnes of LNG to Tepco in 2012, amounting to 5 per cent of Qatargas’ total production capacity. – TradeArabia News Service