Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan's largest shipping line, and Mitsui & Co., Japan's second-largest trading company, will sign a 270 billion yen ($2.3 billion) to 280 billion yen contract to transport liquefied natural gas.

The companies will team up with Nassau, Bahamas-based Teekay Shipping Corp., the world's largest oil-tanker owner, to transport the gas mainly to the U.S. from Angola in southwest Africa for a group of companies from 2011, said Hideki Nakai, a spokesman for Nippon Yusen, confirming a report earlier today by the Nikkei newspaper.

Japanese shipping companies carried about one-sixth of the world's liquefied natural gas last year, and Tokyo-based Nippon Yusen is the nation's largest carrier after Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. U.S. imports of the gas increased 48 percent in the first seven months of 2007 and may reach a record this year, according to Pan Eurasian Enterprises. The price for natural gas rose to a record in June.

``Demand for LNG is gradually increasing,'' Nakai said. ``It is seen as a clean fuel.''

Mitsui & Co. will own 34 percent of the venture and Nippon Yusen and Teekay Shipping will own 33 percent each, Nakai said.

The group will sign a contract to transport the fuel with companies including Chevron Corp. by the end of next month, he said.