Apache Corporation announced that an Apache Australian subsidiary and its partners have signed long-term sales and purchase agreements with Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Chevron-operated Wheatstone Project in Western Australia.

The LNG sales agreements are binding subject to a positive final investment decision (FID) by the Wheatstone partners to proceed with the project. Front-end engineering and design of the Wheatstone Project's first phase — consisting of two processing trains with a combined capacity of approximately 8.9 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) and a domestic gas plant — is complete, and the FID is expected during the second half of 2011.

The Wheatstone partners agreed to supply TEPCO with 3.1 mtpa of LNG for up to 20 years. Through its 13-percent share in Wheatstone, Apache Julimar Pty Ltd, an Apache subsidiary, will supply 0.45 mtpa from natural gas produced at the Julimar and Brunello fields in offshore license WA-356-P.

"This agreement is an important milestone for the Wheatstone development and for the long-term relationship between Apache and TEPCO," said Janine McArdle, Apache's senior vice president of gas monetization. "World-class discoveries like Julimar and Brunello enable Apache to help meet rising demand for gas across Asia."

Apache Julimar Pty Ltd and KUFPEC Australia (Julimar) Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Co. k.s.c., own a 20-percent share in the LNG facility. Apache Julimar Pty Ltd has a 65-percent interest in Julimar-Brunello and the WA-356-P partners' share of the LNG facility. Apache's expected net share of LNG sales to TEPCO is equivalent to approximately 58 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The Apache and KUFPEC subsidiaries will develop facilities to supply gas from their Julimar and Brunello discoveries to Wheatstone. Apache is operator of the WA-356-P segment of the project. The Wheatstone onshore facilities will be located at Ashburton North near Onslow in Western Australia.