Global energy trading firm Vitol has signed a 15-year deal to buy liquefied natural gas from Petronas, with LNG Canada as the primary source of supply.
Petronas will supply 0.8 million tonnes of LNG per year starting in 2024, Vitol announced Thursday, Nov. 29.
The primary supply will come from LNG Canada, Vitol said, though some will also come from other sources in Petronas' global supply portfolio.
"Petronas supplied our first LNG cargo in 2005 and we have now extended our LNG relationship until at least 2038," Pablo Galante Escobar, Vitol's head of LNG, said in a statement.
"Vitol is committed to the long-term development of the LNG market and its evolution to become a more flexible and tradeable commodity."
Vitol delivered more than seven million tonnes of LNG in 2017, with customers in five continents, according to a company profile.
Vitol joins Tokyo Gas and Toho-Gas in buying a share of gas through LNG Canada. Those two companies will be buying LNG from Mitsubishi Corp., which holds a 15% stake in LNG Canada, and owns upstream natural gas assets in Northeast B.C. through the Cutbank Ridge Partnership.
Tokyo Gas and Toho-Gas announced they would be purchasing gas from LNG Canada one week after the $40-billion project was sanctioned by Shell and its investment partners on Oct. 2.
Petronas holds a 25% stake in LNG Canada, and has significant gas reserves in the North Montney. It has committed seven trillion cubic feet to LNG Canada as part of its share in the project.
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