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The Chinese government has agreed that the Australian company of ALNG would become the gas supplier of the first phase of Guangdong LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal, the first of its kind in China.
According to the 25-year contract the two sides reached, ALNG will supply three million tons of LNG per year to the project, whose annual handling capacity will increase to five million tons after the second-phase expansion due in 2008.
For ALNG, the gas-supplying contract is a hard-won one. Last November, six companies from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar, Russia and Yemen joined the bidding race. At the beginning of this year, Australia, together with Indonesia and Qatar, was short listed among the three potential gas suppliers to the terminal.
The Australian side will allow China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. (CNOOC Ltd.), whose parent company controls the project, to develop natural gas in Australia. Earlier this year, CNOOC Ltd. reached an agreement with ALNG on forming a joint venture in this regard, sources said.
In addition, the Australian side agreed to give its Chinese counterpart support when LNG transportation and tanker building related to the Guangdong project are concerned.
(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2002)
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