Japan's Tohoku Electric Power and the United States' Chevron Corp. recently signed a 20-year contract for the U.S. energy major to supply the Japanese electric utility with 1.2 billion cubic meters of LNG annually from the Wheatstone project in Australia. Although the volume is small, the contract comes as pressure is building on oil and natural gas firms in Australia's LNG sector. Conventional Natural Gas and Coal Bed Methane in Australia Though Australia has prodigious natural gas resources, the country's geology, remoteness and economy have put it in a difficult position in competing financially with other growing natural gas producers. However, timing has been on Canberra's side.