Sydney: US energy group Chevron is close to striking a deal to supply China National Petroleum with gas from Chevron's Wheatstone project in Australia, the Wall Street Journal said.
The newspaper quoted Chevron chief John Watson as saying in an interview that under the deal CNPC would also take a stake in a gas field supplying the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas plant.
Chevron expects to make a final investment decision on Wheatstone in 2011. Media reports have put the project's cost at around A$20 billion (Dh68.8 billion), among roughly $200 billion worth of LNG projects on the drawing board in Australia.
Doubled capacity
"Getting CNPC on board is important because it would be the cornerstone buyer, underpinning Chevron's plans to more than double the capacity of Wheatstone to 25 million metric tonnes," the Wall Street Journal said.
"The gas intended for China would go to market by 2016."
Chevron has already committed 60 per cent of the gas from the first phase of Wheatstone to other Asian buyers, including Japan and South Korea, which have also taken small stakes in gas fields feeding the project, the newspaper added.
