BEIJING, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- China plans to import about 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually by 2010.

An official from China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, announced the estimate.

Fujian LNG Co. Ltd. and Indonesia Tangguh Gas Field have signed a 25-year contract with an annual supply of 2.6 million tons.

Shanghai LNG Co. Ltd. and Petroleum National Berhad, a petroleum company in Malaysia, have reached a long-term agreement on LNG supply with an annual supply of 3 million tons.

Sinopec, China's second-largest crude oil producer, also has agreements with Shell Oil Co., the U.S.-based affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. of Australia. Sinopec will purchase, in total, more than 4 million tons of LNG annually from the two companies in the next 20 years.

LNG's price on the global market will keep rising with the increasing price of international crude oil, said Zhang Weiping, the former general economist of China National Offshore Oil Corp.