Australia's PM lobbies Zhu Rongji on LNG sales contract: Report

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard said he lobbied Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji strongly Wednesday for Australia's North West Shelf project to be selected as supplier to China's first liquefied natural gas import facility, Dow Jones reported on Wednesday.

Howard said he expects a decision will be made by Chinese authorities in the near future.

"While a decision isn't going to occur in the next couple of days, it will occur fairly soon," he told reporters in Beijing after the meeting.

A transcript of his press conference was issued early Thursday here.

China is assessing which of three consortia will supply 3 million metric tons of LNG to China'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 Tangghu project in Indonesia for the LNG supply contract.

Howard said he had a lengthy meeting with Zhu, which continued through dinner Wednesday, during which he pressed the case for the Australian supplier.

Competition for the supply contract is fierce, he said, and while "I don't regard the matter as finally decided...it is tough."

Howard said he also raised the issue during a meeting Tuesday with Li Peng, head of the Chinese parliament and the No. 2 leader in China's ruling Communist Party.

He said he is scheduled to meet Thursday with President Jiang Zemin, where he will press the case again, as well as discuss broader issues, including international and regional affairs.

"So the Chinese government will be well aware of our strong support for this project," he said.

Howard previously said that what sets the Australia project apart as a potential supplier from the other two is "stability, predictability, 12 years of flawless delivery on contracts on time, on budget, in full, as promised."

He argued that price shouldn't be the only consideration in selecting the supplier.

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