Sinopec to Buy Fuel, LNG Stake From ConocoPhillips, Origin

China Petrochemical Corp., the nation’s second-largest oil company, agreed to acquire 15 percent of an Australian gas venture planned by ConocoPhillips and Origin Energy Ltd. as part of a fuel-purchase accord.

Sinopec Group, as China Petrochemical is known, will buy as much as 4.3 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas a year for two decades under the preliminary pact, the Beijing-based company said in a statement today. The supply agreement would be the largest for any of the Queensland ventures intending to liquefy gas extracted from coal deposits, Grant King, managing director of Sydney-based Origin Energy, told reporters.