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.