Chevron has quietly been forced to look for a new customer for $30 billion of Gorgon gas after the world's biggest LNG buyer walked out on offtake talks. Chevron confirmed yesterday that Korea Gas, or KOGAS, had not followed through on a non-binding heads of agreement to buy 1.5 million tonnes of Gorgon LNG a year. When Chevron announced the agreement with KOGAS in 2009, it trumpeted the proposed 15-year offtake as "the first long-term sale between KOGAS and an Australian supplier". Analysts forecast the deal to be worth about $30 billion over its 15-year life. Chevron Australia managing director Roy Krzywosinski yesterday did not provide a reason why the KOGAS talks collapsed. Industry sources said KOGAS walked because of disagreement over price at a time when the Korean giant was playing off the prospect of US LNG exports against traditional suppliers in Australia. The collapse of the KOGAS deal leaves Chevron with just 65 per cent of its share of Gorgon LNG committed under long-term contracts.