BP Plc signed a $1.9 billion deal on Thursday to supply 550,000 tonnes a year of Indonesian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to South Korean steel firm POSCO Co for 20 years, starting in 2005.
The deal marks the importance as a gas producer of Indonesia, Asia's sole member of Opec, the world's main oil producing countries' organisation, although it has now became a net importer of oil.
Amir Hamzah, spokesman for the Indonesian oil and gas watchdog Badan Pelaksana Minyak and gas (BP Migas), said the agreement was signed on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
BP said it would supply Posco, the world's second-largest steel maker, from Indonesia's massive Tangguh field in Papua province, 3,000 km (1,880 miles) east of Jakarta, which holds 14.4 trillion cubic feet of proved and certified natural gas reserves.