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SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian energy giant Woodside Petroleum on Monday said it was searching for other Asian buyers after a provisional liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with PetroChina lapsed.

Woodside said the agreement, signed in 2007, to sell up to three million tonnes of LNG a year from its Western Australia Browse project expired on December 31 without a firm supply agreement.

“Woodside and PetroChina have agreed to keep each other informed of progress in their respective LNG export and LNG import projects,” Woodside said in a statement.

“Woodside remains in ongoing discussions with other Asia-Pacific LNG customers in relation to potential sales from its portfolio of Australian LNG developments, including the Browse project.”

Woodside said a provisional agreement remained current with Taiwan’s CPC Corporation, announced in November 2007, for the potential sale of up to three million tonnes of LNG per year for 15 to 20 years.

“Woodside and CPC continue to negotiate in good faith to progress a detailed LNG supply agreement,” it said, adding that talks were also ongoing with Japan’s Osaka Gas.

Analysts said the deal’s lapse was unsurprising as there were a number of questions surrounding, including where to put the processing plant.

“No one is going to go to a firm agreement on Browse gas, it would be madness at this early stage,” said Goldman Scahs JBWere analyst Aiden Bradley.

The booming LNG industry is key to Woodside’s growth plans, with the Australian firm last month announcing a 2.3 billion US dollar share offer to boost its ambitious push into the sector.

– Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report –