Australia has signed a A$50 billion natural gas deal with China – the single largest resource deal between the two countries.
The deal, signed in Beijing between ExxonMobil and PetroChina, is for a $50 billion deal over the next 20 years of liquefied natural gas from the proposed North West Shelf Gorgon development in Western Australia.

Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson said the unprecedented export deal confirmed Australia's importance as a global energy superpower.
"The $50 billion Gorgon LNG project will be the biggest single investment ever made in Australia, breaking the record set only a few years ago by the $12 billion Pluto LNG project now under construction in Western Australia,'' Mr Ferguson said.
Mr Ferguson said the Gorgon project is expected to provide jobs for about 6,000 Australian workers at the peak of construction and buy about $33 billion worth of Australian goods and services over the coming years.
He said the project would also generate an additional $40 billion in revenue.
Gorgon last week signed a $25 billion to supply gas to India.
Construction on the Gorgon project is expected to commence in February 2010.