Australia’s government said that on 18 August that PetroChina Co. signed a deal to buy USD 41 billion worth of Australian LNG over the next 20 years. The gas will come from Exxon Mobil’s 25% share of the Gorgon gas field development off Australia’s west coast. The deal comes despite growing tensions between the two countries. Beijing has expressed displeasure over Australia’s decision to grant a visa to an exiled Uighur activist, and Canberra has voiced concerns over China’s arrest of an Australian mining executive on charges of infringing trade secrets and bribery.
