Australian minister to visit China to push LNG supply pact

Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile will visit China in the next week to promote Australia as a supplier to China's first liquefied natural gas import facility, a government official said Thursday.

Australia's Northwest Shelf project is one of three supplier projects on a shortlist to supply 3.0 million metric tons a year of LNG from 2005. The long-term contract to supply gas to the import terminal in southern China is valued around A$750 million a year.

The other suppliers are in Qatar and Indonesia.

Vaile will visit China during a wider visit to north Asia to work toward developing a strategic energy partnership, the official said.

Vaile follows Industry, Tourism and Resource Minister Ian Macfarlane, who visited China earlier this month to promote Australia's LNG industry as a reliable, experienced supplier of the fuel.

The trade minister's visit comes before a scheduled visit in late May by Prime Minister John Howard.

A decision to select the final bidder to supply the Chinese LNG project is more than a month away, the official said. (*)