Tokyo Electric Power Co. may buy a stake in Inpex Corp.'s $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in Australia to secure supplies of the cleaner-burning fuel.

The utility aims to complete talks this year to purchase around 1 percent of the Ichthys venture, Arai Takao, a managing director in charge of fuel procurement, said Thursday in Tokyo. Tepco and six other Japanese utilities may each buy about 1 million metric tons a year from the project, he said.

"Becoming a stakeholder will benefit us as we can get access to information on production planning and timing, which is difficult to get if you're merely a buyer," Arai said.

Inpex has been wooing Japanese LNG buyers to join the Ichthys project to lock in customers. Ichthys, which Inpex estimates will produce at least 8 million tons a year, is one of about 10 proposed ventures in Australia and Papua New Guinea seeking to tap forecast growth in LNG demand in Asia.

"The primary market for the Ichthys project is Japan," Inpex spokesman Kazuya Honda said Friday in Tokyo, while declining comment on whether Tepco is negotiating to buy a stake.

Such a purchase "profits both sides," said Reiji Ogino, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. "Securing stable customers like Tokyo Electric will hedge investment risk and increase the feasibility of the project."

Ichthys, which is expected to produce gas for 40 years, is slated to begin operation in 2015, Inpex said in April. The explorer and Paris-based partner Total SA, which bought a 24 percent stake in 2006, will decide whether to go ahead with the project next year.

Arai didn't say how much Tepco would pay for a stake, saying an offer hasn't been made yet. The sale to Total boosted Inpex's before-tax profit by about ¥33 billion.