BP to submit final bid to supply LNG to China
BP to submit final bid to supply LNG to China
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina and the Indonesian unit
of British-American oil and gas firm BP Plc. are expected to
submit on Sunday their final bid to supply liquefied natural gas
(LNG) to China's Guangdong province, according to a senior
official at BP.
"We're ready to submit the (final) bid ... and we're
optimistic about winning the tender," BP Indonesia vice president
for government and public affairs Satya W. Yudha told The Jakarta
Post on Thursday.
He said the Guangdong authorities would select one or two
winners for the LNG supply contract.
It is unclear, however, exactly when China will announce the
winners. Satya was informed by officials in China that the
results of the tender would be announced between May and
September.
Pertamina is competing with two companies from Qatar and
Australia to win the contract to supply three million tons of LNG
per year to Guangdong beginning in 2005.
Pertamina plans to supply the LNG to Guangdong from the
Tangguh LNG project in Papua province, which is operated by BP.
A team from Guangdong arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday to
conduct a due diligence on the Tangguh project. The team
previously visited Qatar and will fly to Australia on Friday.
The Chinese officials met on Wednesday with Minister of Energy
and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Pertamina officials
and BP officials. They also visited the Tangguh LNG project.
Satya said the bid would primarily contain three points:
price, flexibility and country risk.
"All we can say is that our offer is competitive," he said.
Top government and BP officials have visited China several
times to convince the Chinese authorities of Pertamina's ability
to supply the LNG.
Pertamina has delivered LNG to buyers in Taiwan, South Korea
and Japan for decades from the Arun LNG plant in Aceh and the
Badak LNG plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan.
Indonesia is the largest LNG producer in the world, with
production of about 29 million metric tons a year.