(EnergyAsia, May 10 2011, Tuesday) — France’s GDF SUEZ said it has agreed to supply 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over a 45-month period to Petronas LNG Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Malaysian state oil and gas company from August 2012.

GDF SUEZ, which walked away from a supply deal with PowerGas of Singapore in 2009, said the deal confirms its ambition to develop Asia as a core region for its LNG business.

Staking a claim to being able to directly supply LNG to Asia, the French company said it is developing a two-million-ton-a-year floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit in Bonaparte in Australia.

Chairman and CEO Gérard Mestrallet said: “This agreement concluded with Petronas LNG confirms GDF SUEZ’s ambition as illustrated by other medium term agreements recently concluded with (South Korea’s) Kogas for the delivery of 2.5 million tons of LNG between 2010 and 2013, and with CNOOC for the delivery of 2.6 million tons of LNG from 2013 to 2016.”

GDF SUEZ has a diversified portfolio of LNG supplies from Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago and Yemen, representing 16.5 million tons per year. It operates a fleet of 18 LNG carriers and has a significant presence in regasification terminals around the world.