Total is seeking a 50 percent stake in a $4 billion project in Iran's giant South Pars gas field, the French energy firm said in a regulatory filing on Friday detailing talks held with Iranian officials on several projects in 2016.

Production from the layer will reach 35,000 barrels per day once its wells are fully operational.

But Lee said that South Korean demand for LNG would keep falling in the short-term due to increased electricity output from nuclear and coal-fired power plants. The country is the world's second-biggest LNG importer after Japan.

China is committed to having talks with the parties directly involved, and in accordance with historical facts and international law to peacefully resolve the issue, and that position will not change, Wang said.

"We urge the United States to respect the facts, speak and act cautiously to avoid harming the peace and stability of the South China Sea,"

China’s investment is transforming its smaller Southeast Asian neighbors like never before while helping turn Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar into bigger destinations for its exports.

The $45bn complex pipeline project running from Azerbaijan to Italy and consisting of four mega projects – Shah Deniz 2, South Caucasus Pipeline expansion (SCPX), Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (Tanap), and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) – would be delivered and will come in under budget, eventually delivering 16-32bn m³/yr.

Asia's net oil imports surpassed the total amount of oil consumed in North America in 2015 and are set to rise after producers slashed spending on exploration and production on low oil prices, leaving oilfields at risk of sharp production declines in the next decade.

Japan, South Korea, and China are the three largest importers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, accounting for more than half of global LNG imports in 2015. Combined LNG imports in these countries averaged 18.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2015, a 5% (0.9 Bcf/d) decline from 2014 levels and the first annual decline in these countries' combined LNG imports since the global economic downturn in 2009.

Thailand's largest energy firm PTT Pcl plans to import at least 5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2017, up from 3 million tonnes this year as local gas production fades.