OIL Search and Exxon Mobil have cemented themselves as the frontrunners in the race for the region"s next big gas export scheme after signing agreements to sell more than $US2 billion ($2.48bn) worth of liquefied natural gas a year from their PNG LNG project.

The project, run by Exxon and expected to cost $US12bn to develop, will supply 4.3 million tonnes of LNG a year to three Asian customers at an undisclosed price.

Japan"s Tokyo Electric Power and Osaka Gas are two of the buyers, while the other is understood to be Taiwanese.

Two million tonnes a year have already committed to China"s state-owned Sinopec. The two deals now account for the whole 6.3 million tonnes of LNG a year expected from the project in 2013 or 2014.

Sinopec, which has not been officially named as a buyer, is awaiting Chinese government approval. Exxon said it planned to sign binding deals by the end of the year.

The deals announced yesterday are the latest in a flurry of contracts as several major plants, including the massive Gorgon project in Western Australia and coal-seam gas-to-LNG plants at Gladstone, head for an investment decision this year or early next year.

Korea Gas previously said it was interested in buying from the PNG LNG project, as well as from Gorgon and Gladstone. ...

The PNG LNG project, like CSG-to-LNG projects planned by Santos and BG Group at Gladstone, is targeting unmet LNG demand around 2014 as some big regional agreements end.

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