Cheniere Energy Inc., the largest US exporter of liquefied natural gas, signed a deal with PetroChina Co. that lays that the groundwork for another expansion of Cheniere’s Texas export terminal as global demand for the fuel surges.

PetroChina has agreed to buy 1.8 million tons a year of the power-plant fuel from Cheniere’s marketing arm from 2026 through 2050, according to a statement. Half of that amount depends on Cheniere deciding to move ahead with a new build-out of its Corpus Christi terminal beyond the expansion it greenlit last month.

Deliveries under the PetroChina agreement will be indexed to Henry Hub, the benchmark for US gas prices, plus a fixed fee. The deal is the first Cheniere contract that crosses over into the second half of this century, CEO Jack Fusco said in the statement. 

Cheniere’s deal with PetroChina, which represents nearly two dozen cargoes per year, comes as Russia strangles gas supplies to Europe amid the war in Ukraine. Global shortages of the fuel ahead of the winter have sent LNG prices soaring as buyers in Europe and Asia vie for cargoes.