Pertamina and BP submit bid to supply LNG to Guangdong

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina and BP Indonesia, a subsidiary of British American giant BP Plc., officially submitted on Tuesday a joint bid to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China's Guangdong industrial province.

Pertamina director general of oil and gas Rachmat Sudibyo said that the LNG would come from the Tangguh LNG project in Irian Jaya.

"This tender is very important for the Tangguh (project) and the development of the Papua province, so we must fully support it," he told the Jakarta Post.

The bid was tabled as five ministers, including Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of Trade and Industry Rini Soewandhi, State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri and Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno, flew to China late on Monday to meet Premier Zhu Rongji.

The ministers would meet with other top officials to promote economic cooperation between the two countries.

Separately, BP Indonesia vice president for government affairs Satya W. Yudha said that under the joint proposal, Pertamina and BP Indonesia promised to purchase Chinese-made products as a counter trade should they win the supply contract.

He said that the contract's tender process to select one supplier would be completed in three months.

The contract offers potential sales totaling 3 million tons of LNG annually, beginning in 2005.

A deal with China would pave the way for the construction of the LNG plant in Tangguh, which is jointly developed by Pertamina and BP.

Indonesia is competing with other major LNG producers such as Malaysia, Qatar and Australia.