Purnomo to visit China to discuss LNG sales

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro plans to visit Shandong early next month to further discuss a plan to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Chinese province, an Indonesian ministry official said Tuesday.

The official told Dow Jones Newswires in Jakarta that Purnomo is expected to be in Shandong April 1-2, after he attends a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna March 31.

Purnomo, who is also OPEC's president, will leave for the group's headquarters March 25, the official added.

Late last month, a delegation from Shandong visited Indonesia, seeking to buy LNG from the Tangguh field.

Indonesia, one of the world's largest LNG producers, needs customers to take up an increase in supply coming from a swathe of new projects, including BP PLC's (BP) Tangguh LNG plant in West Papua province.

China's Fujian province has agreed to buy 2.6 million tons of LNG a year from Tangguh starting in 2007.(*)