Taiwan's state oil firm to buy LNG from Qatar

TAIPEI (AFP): Taiwan's state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC) is planning to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar, CPC officials said yesterday.

CPC has decided in principle to buy two million tons of LNG from Qatar annually in a bid to reduce pollution and meet growing demand for electricity amid fears of a major power shortage here, the officials said.

CPC, which monopolizes crude imports, refining and domestic sales here, will also expand LNG imports from Indonesia, the island's third largest supplier of crude oil behind Saudi Arabia and Oman, they said.

Since 1990, CPC has imported 1.5 million tons of LNG from Indonesia annually, they said, adding that Taiwan at present imported more than three million tons of natural gas annually. Indonesia and Malaysia are among the major suppliers.

Currently, some 26 percent of the electricity consumed on the island is generated by nuclear power, economic officials have said. Petroleum contributes to 28 percent, coal 26 percent and natural gas four percent.

By 2010, economic officials hope to rely on coal for 29 percent of power generation, followed by nuclear energy with 27 percent, natural gas 22 percent, and petroleum nine percent.

The authorities encourage local firms to use LNG as a source of energy, as part of an operation to cut pollution caused by coal and petrochemical fuels, they said.