Taiwan's state-run petrochemical refiner, CPC Corp., Taiwan, has signed a contract to purchase 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year from Qatar, the world's largest supplier, with deliveries set to start in 2013, CPC said Tuesday.
CPC Chairman Chu Shao-hua signed the 21-year contract in Doha that same day along with his counterpart, Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada of RasGas Co. Ltd. Under the deal, CPC will buy LNG from Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. (3), CPC said in a statement.
The latest deal is part of the company's efforts to maintain a steady supply of natural gas to meet domestic demand under the government's policy of building a low-carbon living environment, the statement said, noting that in 2005, the CPC signed a 25-year contract with Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company (2) for 3 million tons of LNG per year.
The two companies are RasGass subsidiaries.
The CPC estimated that its LNG imports are expected to reach 12 million tons this year.
Aside from the effort to secure sources of natural gas, the company has taken measures to build more shipment and storage facilities, the statement said, citing an investment of NT$18.4 billion aimed at expanding its LNG receiving terminal at Taichung Harbor in central Taiwan.
The investment project, scheduled to be completed before the end of 2018, will increase the operational volume of the terminal from the existing 3 million tons a year to 5 million tons.
