RI facing many competitors to win Chinese LNG supply contract: Purnomo
Friday, July 13 2001 - 02:58 AM WIB
Purnomo, after paying courtesy calls on several top officials of the country from Wednesday, said aside from Australia, Malaysia, Qatar and Brunei, which have been long known to be interested in supplying LNG to China, two new players, that is Iran and Russia, had also voiced their interest in the LNG supply contract.
?We have many competitors,? Purnomo told Petromindo.Com via telephone.
Purnomo made the statement following a string of events in the industry, which some analysts say suggest Indonesia now has a bigger chance to win the contract.
Anglo-American energy giant BP Plc, which is a partner of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in the construction of the LNG receiving terminal in the southern province of Guangdong, has recently increased its stake in the gas reserves that will feed the Tangguh LNG project in Irian Jaya from 40 percent to 50 percent by buying the stake of Malaysian firm Cairns.
Being a partner of CNOOC, analysts say, BP has a big chance to win the contract for the LNG supply.
BP has also a 16.6 percent stake in Australia?s North West Shelf LNG project, which is also interested in the LNG contract.
BP?s decision to raise its stake in Tangguh suggests that it would prefer to supply LNG to China from Tangguh should it won the contract, analysts say.
The recent acquisition of American firm Occidental Petroleum Corp?s 16.3 percent stake in Tangguh by Japanese firm Mitsubishi Corp. further suggest that the there is already a perception among the industry that the Tangguh LNG project would go ahead, analysts say.
The Chinese government has announced that it wants to buy three million tons of LNG per year for its first LNG imports
Purnomo also emphasized that he was marketing the Tangguh LNG project rather than other LNG projects in the country during the current visit.
?We have officially told the Chinese government that we support the LNG supplies to the country from Tangguh,? Purnomo said.
He made the statement amid rumors that some people at state oil and gas company Pertamina would also like to propose the planned ninth LNG train or Train I at the Bontang LNG complex in East Kalimantan as an alternative to Tangguh. The Bontang LNG complex is owned by a consortium led by French oil and gas firm TotalFinaElf.
The Pertamina officials argued that the price of Train I would be cheaper than the Tangguh project as the former was an expansion project, while the latter a grassroot project. Thus, the Train I could have a bigger chance than Tangguh to win the project.
Purnomo left for China Tuesday evening along with among others Pertamina?s president Baihaki Hakim, expert staff to the minister for financial and economic affairs Kardaya Warnika, BP associate president Indonesia Bill Schrader.
An Indonesian delegate who refused to be identified told Petromindo that during the visit Purnomo and his entourage had met with Chinese Vice Prime Minister Wu Bangguo, the chairman of the country?s Development Planning Concern, the governor and vice governor of Guangdong.
When asked about the results of all the meetings, the source said: ?Success?, but he refused to provide details. (Godang)