Tangguh partnership to complete financing this year: Report

BP Plc and its partners may receive about $3 billion of financing for its Tangguh liquefied natural gas project in Indonesia by the end of this year, a company official said as reported by Bloomberg.

``We hope to get everything ready to go to final investment decision this year,'' said Anne Quinn, BP's group vice president for gas, power and renewables said in an interview in Singapore.

BP and its partners including CNOOC Ltd, China's largest offshore oil company, may invest as much as 40 percent in equity for the project, Quinn said. Japan Bank for International Cooperation and some Chinese banks may also fund the venture, she said. She declined to name the Chinese banks.

BP and its partners planned to decide on the investment in the venture last year. The decision was delayed because the companies took more time to clarify contractual details of the project under Indonesia's new oil and gas law, Quinn said.

``Yes, it's a little slower than we hoped,'' Quinn said. ``We're waiting for some final government approval, they're all being worked and everybody's in the middle of finishing.''

The actual cost of building the liquefied natural gas project is about $2.2 billion, Quinn said. It includes development of gas fields and construction of the LNG plant, tankers, related infrastructure and pipelines.

The project secured contracts to supply annually 2.6 million tons of the fuel to China, 1.2 million tons to South Korea and another 3.7 million tons to Baja California, Mexico, Quinn said. It is scheduled to start production in 2008.(*)