NEWS
BP-led Tangguh project raises $3Bln financing
London, Aug 18 (LNG journal)
- British oil and gas major BP and its partners in the Tangguh liquefied natural gas project in Indonesia are reported to have concluded 10-year loan agreements for about $3 billion in financing from a group of Asian banks.
A consortium of Chinese banks, including the state-owned Bank of China, will provide about $1Bln, and a group including the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the Asian Development Bank will provide around $3Bln, according to officials speaking in Indonesia.
BP, which will be the project operator, declined to confirm if the financing deals had been completed. "We are continuing to work towards the financing of the Tangguh project and we have been having discussions with a number of banks and financial institutions," said a BP spokesman in London.
"We expect the development costs of Tangguh to be around $5 billion," the spokesman added. "Some $3Bln will come from financing and about a further $2Bln will be raised in equity from the project partners."
The project has a total price tag of around $6Bln because about $1Bln has already been spent on appraisal wells and other activities.
The Tangguh liquefaction plant in Indonesia's Papua province will comprise of two production trains and is expected to have capacity of 7.6 million tonnes a year, with commercial production set to begin in late 2008.
BP and its partners have already agreed to supply 2.6m tonnes per year from Tangguh to Fujian in China , 1.35m tonnes to Gwangyang in South Korea , and 3.7m tonnes to the Sempra-led Energia Costa Azul project in Mexico.
BP's partners in the project are MI Berau B.V (held by Mitsubishi Corp. and INPEX Corp.); CNOOC Ltd.; Nippon Oil Exploration Berau; KG Companies (held by Japan National Oil Corp, Kanematsu Corp. and Overseas Petroleum Corp.); and LNG Japan Corp. (held by Sojitz Corp. and Sumitomo Corp.)
Japanese win Tangguh carrier contracts
