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* Energy demand soars in Kuwait during the summer
* Kuwait expects to import 2.5 mln tonnes of gas annually
* Deals with BP, Shell and Qatargas this year (Adds details on shipments)
By Ahmed Hagagy
KUWAIT, May 13 (Reuters) - Kuwait signed a five-yearliquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deal with BP onTuesday, worth an estimated $3 billion, as it seeks to meetrising energy demand to power air conditioning during thescorching Gulf summers.
Kuwait, a major OPEC oil producer, on Sunday agreed a $12billion LNG supply deal over six years with Royal Dutch Shell and will also import gas from fellow Gulf state Qatar.
The BP deal, signed by state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp(KPC), will help Kuwait run its power plants through the hottesttime of the year.
"The amount contracted by the three companies that we signedwith will be up to 2.5 million tonnes per year," said Nasseral-Mudaf, head of the KPC's international marketing division.
He was referring to the LNG deals with Shell, BP andstate-run Qatargas and said this was an annual estimated amountover the next few years.
The LNG from the three companies will come in 32 shipmentsper year, each one comprising 80,000 tonnes, Mudhaf said. Shellwill send 18 shipments, Qatargas will send eight and BP willsend six, he added.
Kuwait began importing LNG, natural gas frozen to a liquidfor transport on tankers, in 2009. Over the previous four yearsit has signed deals with Shell and Swiss-based trader Vitol tosupply it during the peak power demand period from April toOctober.
(Additional reporting and writing by Sylvia Westall,; Editingby William Hardy and David Evans)
