CNOOC has no plan to invite foreign partners to join Fujian LNG project: Report
Friday, August 23 2002 - 12:22 PM WIB
"The project is likely to be carried out by CNOOC and local partners. We have no plans to invite foreign partners to join us," Wei was quoted as saying by the wires.
Wei said the company continues to be in discussions with BP PLC for the latter to supply the new Fujian terminal from the Tangguh gas field in Indonesia.
"We are in exclusive talks and I hope the deal will turn out to be larger than the one we just obtained with North West Shelf Gas project, but I have no details to offer at this stage, be it the timing or the pricing," Wei said.
CNOOC earlier said it will own 60 percent of the Fujian project, which is due to commence operations in 2006/2007, with an initial annual capacity of 2.5 million tons of LNG, it said.
The company announced earlier it will acquire a 5 percent stake in the upstream production and reserves of Australia's North West Shelf Gas Project for US$320 million. It will also buy a 25 percent stake in the China LNG Joint Venture, which will be established to supply LNG from the NWS Gas Project to the Guangdong LNG terminal, it said.
CFO Mark Qiu said the consideration was mainly for the reserves of the project, as the infrastructure is already in place.
"Acquisition does not constitute a key element of our objectives and our growth for the next seven years is not dependent on the acquisition. However, we are not against any attractive investment opportunities," Qiu said.
Amid expectations that the gas markets demand will continue to grow and reach 17 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the next five to ten years, the company intends to build a costal China trunk line to connect local gas markets, which will run from Guangxi to Shanghai, Wei said, without providing more concrete details.
He added that its parent is expected to spin-off the its oil filter service business to list in Hong Kong within this year. (*)