China LNG contract may be awarded May 17: Report

Partners in Australia 's North West Shelf gas project expect to know in about two weeks if they have won a A$600 million a year deal to supply liquefied gas to China.

A person with knowledge of the talks and involved in the Shelf project, which is operated by Woodside Petroleum Ltd., told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday that China is expected to announce the winner of the three million ton a year Guangdong supply contract on May 17.

But if Australia is successful then the Chinese government might delay the announcement to coincide with a planned visit by Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

He is due to visit China between May 21 and May 23, with LNG likely to be on his agenda.

"If Australia is successful it would make political sense for the Chinese to announce it while he is there," the person said.

Equally, if the North West Shelf misses out, China may delay the announcement until after Howard's visit, to minimize any political embarrassment, the person added.

Another industry source said it is "neck-and-neck" between the Shelf and two other finalists, Qatar 's Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. and BP PLC's Tangguh project in Indonesia, to secure the contract.

Earlier this year, state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp. short-listed the three bidders to supply LNG to a receiving terminal under construction in Guangdong province in southern China. (*)