WESTERN Australia’s natural gas industry had another reason for celebration when Shenzhen Terminal, the first commissioned in China for liquefied natural gas, was opened last week with Prime Minister John Howard, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and WA Premier Alan Carpenter in attendance. The terminal will receive LNG from the Pilbara over the next 25 years as part of a deal between WA’s North West Shelf Venture and China’s Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company Ltd, worth $25 billion. Under the supply deal, signed in October 2002, the project will supply more than 3.3 million tonnes of LNG a year for 25 years. Mr Carpenter said China had a growing demand for reliable sources of energy and WA had substantial reserves of natural gas. The first shipment of LNG under the contract with China’s Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company Ltd left Karratha on May 18 and arrived in China on May 25.