Tokyo Gas, top city gas supplier of Japan, has forged a basic agreement to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Malaysia at 900,000 tonnes annually for 10 years, effective April 2015.

The new agreement comes as a renewal to an existing deal which is due to expire a month before, at the end of March 2015.

Tokyo Gas, which buys LNG from the Malaysia Dua LNG project, signed the agreement with Malaysia LNG Sdn Bhd, led by Malaysia's state oil firm Petronas.

Majority owned by Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Malaysia's state oil company, the Malaysia Dua project is one component of a larger Malaysia LNG project. The Sarawak State Government and Mitsubishi Corporation own the remaining 10 per cent, equally distributed at 5 per cent each, respectively.

Tokyo Gas has procured LNG from the Malaysia Dua LNG project since 1995 under the current contract.

Tokyo Gas and Malaysia LNG have other LNG sale and purchase contracts, and have built a trust in relationship spanning approximately 30 years.

LNG is natural gas (predominantly methane) converted to liquid form for ease of storage or transport. LNG takes up about 1/600th the volume of natural gas in the gaseous state. It is odorless, colorless, non-toxic and non-corrosive.