經濟廣角:中石油簽約購買410億美元澳大利亞天然氣

China's largest energy company agreed yesterday to buy $41bn worth of natural gas from Australia at a signing ceremony that was intended to put a positive gloss on strained relations between the trading partners.

Martin Ferguson, Australia's energy and resources minister, was in Beijing to witness the signing of PetroChina's agreement to buy 2.25m metric tonnes a year of liquid natural gas from ExxonMobil's Gorgon project off the coast of the state of Western Australia.

At current gas prices, the deal will be worth $41bn over the next 20 years and is Australia's largest-ever trade deal, Mr Ferguson said. But the key conditions of the deal were agreed months ago and the timing of the announcement was clearly intended to soothe strained ties between Australia and its most important trading partner.

Canberra revealed yesterday that China cancelled a high-level diplomatic visit to Australia earlier this month in protest over the granting of a visa to Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, who is blamed by Beijing for instigating ethnic riots in Xinjiang province last month.

Sino-Australian relations have also been damaged by the collapse of a high-profile Chinese investment in Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto and China's arrest of four Rio Tinto iron ore sales executives, including Australian citizen Stern Hu, on alleged bribery and commercial espionage charges.

Mr Ferguson's visit to Beijing and the ceremonial announcement of the PetroChina deal were timed to defuse rising tensions between the two countries, say people familiar with the deal.

Sino-Australian trade is worth about $53bn a year. “This agreement is testimony to the strength of Australia's continuing trade and investment relationship with China,” Mr Ferguson said in a statement. “As China continues to develop as a modern global industrial and commercial powerhouse, Australia is committed to walking with it on its remarkable journey.”

The Gorgon project is one of the world's largest proposed gas developments. As well as the agreement with ExxonMobil, which owns 25 per cent of Gorgon, PetroChina has a long standing agreement with Royal Dutch Shell, which also owns 25 per cent, to source gas from the field.

Chevron, the US oil group that is 50 per cent owner and operator of Gorgon, is yet to sign off officially on the project, however, a “final investment decision”, the last remaining milestone, is thought to be only weeks away.

In 2007, PetroChina signed what was then hailed as Australia's biggest export deal when it reached an outline agreement with Woodside Petroleum to buy an estimated $37bn worth of liquefied natural gas from the Browse basin. Australia has more than 10 LNG projects under development by some of the world's top energy groups.

中國最大能源企業昨日簽約，從澳大利亞購買價值410億美元的天然氣，相關協議的簽字儀式意在爲這兩大貿易伙伴之間的緊張關係塗上一抹亮色。

澳大利亞能源和資源部長馬丁·弗格森(Martin Ferguson)在北京出席了中石油(PetroChina)與埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)的簽約儀式。根據協議，中石油每年將從埃克森美孚在西澳大利亞州海岸外的高更項目(Gorgon)購買225萬噸液化天然氣。

弗格森表示，按目前天然氣價格計算，這宗交易在今後20年期間價值410億美元，是澳大利亞有史以來最大的貿易協議。但這宗交易的關鍵條款在幾個月前就已商定，此次宣佈的時機，顯然意在緩和澳大利亞與其最重要貿易伙伴之間的緊張關係。

堪培拉方面昨日透露，中國本月早些時候取消了一次對澳大利亞的高層外交訪問，以抗議澳大利亞向維吾爾領袖熱比婭·卡德爾發放簽證。北京方面指責熱比婭煽動挑起新疆上月發生的民族騷亂。

損害中澳關係的事件還包括：中方對英澳礦商力拓(Rio Tinto)的一宗高姿態投資落空，以及中國以涉嫌賄賂和獲取商業祕密爲由，逮捕力拓的4名鐵礦石銷售高管，其中包括澳大利亞公民胡士泰(Stern Hu)。

據知情人士介紹，弗格森前往北京訪問，以及中石油交易的公佈儀式，在時機上都是爲了緩解兩國間日益上升的緊張形勢。

目前中澳貿易規模每年達到約530億美元。“這項協議證明了澳大利亞與中國持久貿易和投資關係的強度，”弗格森在一份聲明中表示。“在中國朝着現代化全球工商強國的方向繼續發展之際，澳大利亞致力於陪伴中國完成這一了不起的旅程。”

高更項目是全球擬議中的最大天然氣開發項目之一。埃克森美孚和荷蘭皇家殼牌(Royal Dutch Shell)分別持有該項目25%的股權。中石油除了與埃克森美孚簽約外，還早已與荷蘭皇家殼牌簽署從該項目購買天然氣的協議。

高更項目的運營商、持有該項目50%股權的美國石油集團雪佛龍(Chevron)尚未正式決定推進該項目，不過，作爲最後一塊里程碑的“最終投資決定”，據信在幾周內就會作出。

2007年，中石油簽署了當時被譽爲澳大利亞最大出口交易的協議，與Woodside Petroleum達成框架協議，從Browse盆地購買價值估計約370億美元的液化天然氣。澳大利亞有10多個液化天然氣項目正在開發之中，開發商包括一些全球頂級能源集團。