Total looks downstream to spur gas demand, secure markets

(Corrects paragraph 6 to show output and profit percentages are projected contributions, not current ones)

* Total (Swiss: FP.SW - news) sees gas as key in energy transition

* Seeks to help boost demand in emerging economies

* Will invest in regasification plants, transport

By Bate Felix

PARIS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - France's Total is investing in gas and infrastructure as it looks to open up new markets for a fuel seen as a greener alternative to coal.

A move to gas from coal for energy can cut carbon emissions by 50 percent, a quick win for countries aiming to meet their carbon emission reduction targets, said Total's head of gas Laurent Vivier.

The company decided to remove coal-related businesses from its portfolio last year, positioning itself to respond to gas demand growth.

"The strategy is to secure gas outlets and boost demand," Vivier told Reuters.

The global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market is growing by 4 percent annually.

Total plans to increase LNG production to 20 million tonnes by 2020 from 12 million currently. LNG is expected to contribute 20 percent of its output and 30 percent of its upstream profits by 2020.

Vivier said Total was looking at ways to structure deals which could give it footholds into new markets and capture new gas buyers.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) signed one such deal with Indonesia's Pertamina on Tuesday, a swap-and-purchase agreement in which Total will buy 400,000 tonnes of Pertamina's LNG from Corpus Christi LNG, currently under construction in the United States.

Pertamina, which would have struggled to ship the LNG from the plant, will buy increasing volumes of LNG from Total, from 400,000 to 1 million tonnes per year for a 15-year period from 2020.

"We need to invest and we must invest in regasification projects in some countries. The countries need to develop infrastructure," Vivier said. He declined to say how much Total has committed to such projects.

"Most of the cost in gas is on logistics. Pipelines, ships and plants involve huge cost. Once you have something that is so expensive, you need to be in the whole chain," he said.

Total has stakes in several LNG projects in emerging countries such as the Hazira LNG and Port in India operated with Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) , and the Altamira LNG project in Mexico, another joint venture with Shell.

Vivier said Total was looking at other gas projects in South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, and countries where there is a growing demand for power.

"You don't know where the money is going to be made on gas, so you want to be integrated," he said. "You need to be a big player, which is what Total is targeting."

Although gas production has been on the rise, the market has been less active at creating demand, Vivier said. Prices for LNG have been falling in tandem with oil prices due to global oversupply and slow demand.

"We need to understand what is happening on the demand side. We need to go more downstream," he said.

Switching from coal to gas will require heavy investments in terminals, regasification plants and converting coal-fired plants to gas, he said, but would ultimately create demand.

This is where Total can step in with finance and expertise, especially in developing countries and on projects that will enable it to unlock demand, Vivier said.

Total will face rivals Shell, which has completed a $52 billion takeover of BG Group (LSE: BG.L - news) , creating the world's biggest LNG trader, and Italy's Eni (NYSE: E - news) , which discovered the largest known gas field in the Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast last August. (Reporting by Bate Felix; editing by Andrew Callus and Jan Harvey)