Brussels, 18/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - On official visit to Australia (see related article), Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will state the EU's interest, as part of its energy diversification strategy, in importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the island continent. The EU, which could, he said, increase the percentage of LNG in its total gas consumption from 4% to 15-20%, could use seek supplies from the Persian Gulf, in particular from Qatar, and from Australia, Piebalgs said in an interview with Reuters. Qatar is on its way to producing 77 million tonnes of LNG from 2010, and Australia plans to treble its export of LNG to 60 million tonnes per year by 2020. (E.H./transl.rt)