BP upbeat to win China LNG deal

BP upbeat to win China LNG deal

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

A team from China has completed due diligence work on the
Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, with Anglo-American
oil and gas firm BP Plc. confident of winning the multibillion
dollar LNG supply contract.

The 11-member Chinese team ended their four-day visit to
Indonesia on Friday, but they declined to give any comments to
the press during a farewell gathering in the famous resort Island
of Bali.

The team left for Australia late on Friday to conduct a
similar due diligence process. It had previously visited Qatar.

BP Indonesia, the operator of the Tangguh LNG project in Papua
province, is seeking to win a contract to supply three million
tons of LNG per year to China's Guandong province beginning in
2005.

BP is competing with companies from Qatar and Australia.

China is expected to announce one or two winning bidders
within the next one or two months.

Gerald J. Peereboom, the top official of the BP Indonesia
Tangguh LNG project, was optimistic about winning the China
contract because of Indonesia's strong track record in the LNG
business.

He said that the Tangguh project would ensure the security of
LNG supply to China because Indonesia was the world's largest LNG
exporter, and was backed up by two other LNG plants in Arun, Aceh
province, and Bontang, East Kalimantan.

He added that BP was offering a competitive price, but
declined to disclose the figure.

Meanwhile, vice president of BP China George Vu said that the
company's strong relations with the Chinese authorities should be
a positive factor in its attempt to win the contract.

He pointed out that China had teamed up with BP to develop and
manage a US$600 million LNG terminal in Guangdong province.

He added that BP's president had been appointed as one of the
province's advisers.

BP earlier said that it would submit its final bid on Sunday
for the supply of LNG to Guangdong.

Top Indonesian officials, including President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, have also recently visited China.