Chinese employees pose at the stand of Total during the 6th International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC 2013) in Beijing, March 28, 2013.[Photo/dfic.cn]

China National Offshore Oil Corporation, the country's largest offshore oil and gas developer, announced on Thursday that it has signed a liquefied natural gas cooperation agreement with Paris-based oil giant Total.

Under the terms of an existing 15-year contract, Total has been supplying China with up to 1 million metric tons a year of liquefied natural gas since 2010.

In addition to this existing supply, the two parties have set a framework for an additional supply of 1 million tons a year of liquefied natural gas to further strengthen cooperation throughout the liquefied natural gas value chain between the two companies, according to CNOOC.

CNOOC is the largest LNG importer in China. The company imported 13.01 million tons of liquefied natural gas last year, accounting for 72 percent of the country's total imports, according to CNOOC.

As a pioneer of China's liquefied natural gas industry and the third-largest LNG importer in the world, CNOOC operates six LNG receiving terminals in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Tianjin with additional terminals under construction.

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