CNOOC to take 12.5% stake in RI LNG project

CNOOC to take 12.5% stake in RI LNG project

Major Chinese oil firm CNOOC Ltd. said Friday it is to acquire a
12.5 percent stake in Indonesia's Tangguh liquefied natural gas
project for about US$275 million.
The company said the acquisition was part of an $8.5 billion deal
signed Thursday with a consortium led by Britain's BP Plc. and
Indonesia's Pertamina to supply LNG to China's Fujian province.
The Hong Kong-listed CNOOC said in a statement it has entered
into a heads of agreement to acquire a participating interest in
the reserves and upstream production of Tangguh.
The stake would be from BP through the acquisition of interests
in production sharing contracts, it said.
CNOOC said the planned acquisition would be "economically
attractive and complementary to its natural gas strategy."
"The acquisition of a material stake in the Tangguh joint venture
and the reserves and upstream production would expand both the
company's natural gas reserves and our upstream presence in
Indonesia," CNOOC chairman Wei Liuchang said in the statement.
"This proposed acquisition, together with our recently announced
proposal to acquire an upstream interest in Australia's North
West Shelf gas project, would be substantial step in executing
our commitment to supplying natural gas to the rapidly growing
market in China," he said.
BP currently has a 50 percent share in the production sharing
contract for Tangguh with Pertamina.
The remaining 50 percent is held by Mitsubishi Corp, with 16
percent; Nippon Oil Exploration, 12 percent; British Gas, 11
percent; Kanematsu Corp, 10 percent; and LG Japan, 1.0 percent.
-- AFP