China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) yesterday said it had signed an agreement with British natural gas producer BG Group to buy gas from the latter's liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia.

The agreement calls for CNOOC to purchase 3.6 million tons per annum of LNG for a period of 20 years from the Queensland Curtis LNG project in Australia, which is being developed by the BG Group. The project will come on line in 2014 with 7.4 million tons per annum in total capacity, CNOOC said in a statement yesterday.

The Beijing-based firm will also own a 10 percent stake in one of the two LNG production trains at the planned LNG development, the statement revealed.

CNOOC and BG Group will also jointly participate in a shipping consortium to construct two LNG ships in China.

"This agreement will strengthen the power of CNOOC to secure cleaner energy to support China's economic development," said Fu Chengyu, president of CNOOC.

CNOOC is now the leading company in China's LNG sector having built four LNG receiving terminals in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

The firm has signed contracts to buy LNG from Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia for terminals on the Chinese coast.

China has set a target of raising the proportion of natural gas in its total energy consumption to 5.3 percent in 2010 from 2.8 percent in 2005, amid efforts to curb pollution.

China's natural gas production will be 120 billion cu m in 2011, a three-year plan chalked out by the National Energy Administration.