Nam Kwong Natural Gas Co. Ltd., the energy branch under the Chinese Nam Kwong Group, signed a 25-year natural gas supply agreement with the Macau government. The company said last Friday that they would invest MOP 1 billion in the project, including laying pipelines and building a gas storage and supply center in Coloane.

According to the contract, the city will have a centralized natural gas supply directed to all households in 5 years. The first three years will be spent building a pipeline building in the Coloane and then Taipa districts. As the final destination, the peninsula district won't have natural gas supply until around 2017.  In a press conference, the Energy Sector Development Office said the reference price for natural gas to be available then is MOP 10, which they said would be a competitive level in comparison with other existing forms of energy.

To ensure the standards of service, the contract stipulates that a three percent discount of the monthly bill will be imposed on the supplier should there be 3 or more times of supply suspension in one year or one suspension for over 24 hours in a year. A penalty of MOP 30,000 to MOP 1 million will be imposed on Nan Kwong depending on other violations, or the gravity of each case. A termination of concession will be at the government's disposal should the accumulative penalty add up to MOP 7.5 million.