Australia's Woodside inks LNG supply deal with Taiwan's CPC

Sydney, July 11 (CNA) Australia's Woodside Energy has signed a deal with Taiwanese state-owned oil and gas company CPC Corp., Taiwan (CPC) for the long-term supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Taiwan, the energy company announced in a media release Thursday.

Under the sale and purchase agreement (SPA), the Australian energy company will supply approximately 6 million tonnes of LNG on a delivered basis over 10 years. The contract period is slated to start this month.

Woodside CEO Meg O'Neill welcomed the SPA, the company's first long-term agreement for sales to Taiwan.

"This agreement with CPC for long-term supply to Taiwan is a first for Woodside and another demonstration of the ongoing demand for Australian LNG in Asian markets," O'Neill said.

Woodside may also deliver approximately 8.4 million tonnes of LNG to CPC for a further 10 years, from 2034 to 2043, subject to conditions and agreement on terms for this period, according to the media release.

Taipower is already a big customer for Australian LNG via Ichthys LNG, a joint venture between Inpex, Japan's largest exploration and production company, French-based TotalEnergies and other joint venture participants including the Australian subsidiaries of CPC (with participating interest of 2.625 percent).

The production capacity of the Ichthys project is approximately 8.9 million tonnes of LNG per year.

In 2023, Taiwan was the third largest LNG buyer from Australia, behind Japan and China.

Australia is the largest supplier of LNG to Taiwan and has invested in Taiwan's major offshore wind power development projects.

According to the Australia's Office of the Chief Economist last month, Taiwan's LNG imports from Australia grew by almost a third over the four years to 2023.