Indonesia-China LNG supply agreement expected to be signed on Sept 26

Indonesia expects to sign on Sept 26 an agreement with China National Offshore Corp (CNOOC) to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Fujian province, a senior government official said on Monday.

Rachmat Soedibyo, chairman of the Implementing Body (BPMigas) which holds the highest authority over the country?s upstream oil and gas sector, said Indonesian and CNOOC officials had agreed on nearly all issues related to the natural gas supply deal.

?We expect to sign the gas supply agreement on 26 September,? Rachmat told reporters in Bali.

Earlier reports said the gas supply deal would be signed in Denpasar, Bali, where the first meeting of China-Indonesia Energy Forum will be held.

The gas supply deal would likely involve the supply of 2.5 million metric tons of LNG to Fujian in southern China for a period of 25 years.

The Chinese government had awarded Indonesia the contract to supply natural gas to Fujian after the latter failed to win another contract to supply 3 million metric tons of LNG to Guangdong province, also in southern China, over 20years starting from 2006. China awarded the Guangdong LNG supply contract to Australia.

The plan is that LNG for Fujian will come from BP?s Tangguh project in Papua province.

Meanwhile, Pertamina said on Monday several Japanese importers had expressed interest to bring more LNG from Indonesia.

Pertamina president director Baihaki Hakim said he had planned to meet with the Japanese investors during his visit to Japan to attend the meeting of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which is scheduled to be opened in Osaka on Thursday.

The Japanese investors included Tokyo Electric Co Inc and Tokyo Gas Co Ltd.

Baihaki said Pertamina had planned to build the ninth LNG train in Bontang, East Kalimantan, with capacity to turn out 3 million metric tons of LNG per year. (godang)