Independent energy retailer Australian Power & Gas (APG) (ASX: APK) had signed two new contracts for wholesale gas supply.

The company said in a statement on Wednesday it has negotiated a further three--year whole sale gas supply agreement with Esso Australia Resources and BHP Billiton sourced from thee BHP Billiton/Esso Gippsland joint venture. The extension will run through the end of 2014.

APG also signed a new four-year, eight-month wholesale gas supply agreement with a major wholesale participant. The contract is effective May 1, 2011 and provides price and volume certainty into the future.

"When combined with the extension of its fixed price electricity contract that was announced in November, the new gas contracts supports Australian Power & Gas's continued growth in Victoria, where it already has more than 180,000 customers," APG said.

"These new agreements also provide Australian Power & Gas a defined price for gas in New South Wales, a market in which the company has recently launched operations and expects to realise significant growth over the next four years."

The company has secured in excess of 10,000 net new customer accounts in New South Wales since the starting of sales in the second half of 2010.

"These gas contracts, in conjunction with thee electricity contract extension announced recently, improve our ability to maintain consistency over pricing, thereby providing security to our customers," APG chief executive James Myatt said.

"Both contracts run through to at least the end of 2014, by which time we expect total customer accounts to surpass the 450,000 mark."

Shares in APG gained two cents or four per cent at 52 cents by1158 AEDT.