BP and Japanese utility Kansai Electric have struck a sales and purchase agreement for liquefied natural gas (LNG) on Thursday.

BP, CNPC venture into Chinese shale

China

LONDON, April 1, 2016 – BP and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have teamed up for an unconventional gas project in China, the two companies announced on Thursday upon the signing of a PSC for the Neijiang-Dazu block.

The first such contract for BP in China, the PSC will see the two majors carry out gas exploration, development and production across a contract area of some 1,500 square kilometres in the Sichuan basin. The partnership follows the October 2015 framework agreement on strategic co-operation signed upon the UK visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Building upon the framework agreement on strategic co-operation signed last year, this unconventional resource PSC is a manifestation of our deepening co-operation. By leveraging the parties’ complementary advantages, CNPC and BP will jointly realise the efficient development of unconventional resources,” CNPC chairman Wang Yilin said in a first reaction.

BP CEO Bob Dudley said the company was “looking forward to working together with CNPC on technology, operational and subsurface techniques in unconventional resources.”