Qatar is set to secure a second huge gas supply deal with a Chinese state-controlled company in less than a year, in a sign of the energy-hungry Asia power rushing to secure long-term agreements with one of the world’s top exporters of liquefied natural gas. China National Petroleum Corporation and QatarEnergy are expected to sign a 27-year agreement on Tuesday, under which China will purchase 4mn tonnes of LNG a year from the Gulf state, said people briefed on the matter. CNPC will also take a 5 per cent equity in Qatar’s expansion project in its North Field, the world’s biggest natural gas reservoir, as a joint venture partner.

The agreement comes just seven months after China’s Sinopec reached a similar 27-year deal with QatarEnergy, which at the time the Gulf state described as “the longest gas supply agreement in the history of the LNG industry”.

QatarEnergy declined to comment on the agreement.