PERTH -(Dow Jones)- Chevron Corp. (CVX) is continuing talks with prospective customers seeking supply from its US$29 billion Wheatstone gas-export project in Western Australia state, a senior executive said Tuesday. "At the moment we are over 60% of the gas sold and we are certainly looking to get over 80%," said Brian Smith, general manager of Wheatstone, adding that several parties were involved in the ongoing negotiations. Phased construction of the Wheatstone project is underway after Chevron and partners, including Apache Corp. (APA), approved its development in September last year. The first stage involves building two processing units with a combined capacity of 8.9 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas a year, along with a domestic gas plant. The company's biggest customer for Wheatstone is Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO), known as Tepco, which has binding agreements to buy 3.1 million tons of LNG annually. First gas is expected from Wheatstone, near the town of Onslow, in 2016. -By Stephen Bell, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 61-8-9244-4243
