Australia minister hopeful NWS JV will win China LNG contract: Report

Australia Resources and Energy Minister Ian Macfarlane said Tuesday he remains hopeful that North West Shelf joint venture will win a supply contract for China 's first liquefied natural gas import facility, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Macfarlane told reporters the government is still waiting for news from the Chinese government about the successful bidder for the contract, which it is expecting by mid-June.

"We're anxious to see that contract come, but we respect the fact that the Chinese have operated a very open and transparent process, and we'll just have to wait patiently for that," he was quoted by the newswires as saying.

"We're hopeful of a good result," he said.

China is assessing which of three consortia will supply 3 million metric tons of LNG to the country's first import terminal in Guangdong province, a contract potentially valued at A$750 million a year.

Australia 's North West Shelf project is competing against Qatar 's Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. and BP PLC's Tangguh project in Indonesia for the supply contract.

The North West Shelf is an equal joint venture comprising Woodside Petroleum Ltd., the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, ChevronTexaco Corp., BHP Billiton Ltd., BP and Japan Australia LNG, an equal joint venture between Japan 's Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. (*)