Qatar's Rasgas has extended a long term deal to supply France's EDF with up to 3.4 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year for delivery to northwest Europe.

The companies said that the agreement to deliver around 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year to EDF Trading at the Zeebrugge LNG Terminal in Belgium renews a deal signed by the two companies in 2007.

Mr Hamad Rashid Al Mohannadi MD of Rasgas said that "This agreement is a major achievement for Rasgas. It enables the continuation of deliveries of gas by Rasgas to markets in northwest Europe."

Qatar, which with an annual production capacity of 77 million tonnes is the world's leading LNG exporter was struggling to find buyers for all of it until a tsunami wrecked Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant in March driving up gas demand.

A subsequent rise in Qatari LNG exports to Asia, combined with rising demand from new importers elsewhere has stoked fears of tighter supplies in Europe over the next few years and put pressure on buyers to lock in long term deals.

Mr John Rittenhouse CEO of EDF Trading said that "We are pleased to be working alongside Rasgas as LNG is and will continue to be an important source of supply for the EDF Group and our third party customers."

(Sourced from Reuters)