BEIJING, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell has signed a 20-year agreement with PetroChina to annually supply China with 2 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the Xinhua news agency said on Monday.
PetroChina International Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China's largest oil and gas producer, PetroChina Company Limited (PetroChina), has not yet confirmed the deal.
The agreement was concluded to cover the growing deficit of LNG in China since 2006, when the country began importing LNG. In the next two years, the deficit of LNG in the country was expected to total 7.3 million metric tons, with estimated demand of 26.2 million metric tons and estimated supply of 18.9 million metric tons.
According to Chinese analysts, the country will import almost half of its natural gas by 2020, 10% of which will be supplied by Russia and Central Asian states.
