13-12-04 Woodside Petroleum and its North West Shelf Venture participants said they had finalised 25-year sale agreements for LNG to China, with supply due to start in 2006. The company would supply LNG to Guangdong, in China.
This finalises a conditional sale and purchase agreement signed in October 2002, between North West Shelf Australia LNG and the Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company (GDLNG). At the time, the deal was reported as being worth $ A25 bn ($ 18.73 bn).
"All conditions in the contract have now been satisfied," the participants said.

The North West Shelf (NWS) partners said the finalisation of the agreement concluded the first phase of the Guangdong LNG project and met the requirements of the project feasibility report, approved by the Chinese Government in October 2003. Supply is scheduled to commence in 2006.
The fully effective sale and purchase agreement was signed at a special ceremony in Perth with various shipping agreements satisfying the sale and purchase agreement conditions precedent.

Guangdong Dapeng LNG chairman Wu Zhenfang said the conclusion of the contract was a major milestone in the development of the Guangdong LNG project.
"The Guangdong LNG project is the start of a very important journey for China in developing a world-class natural gas industry," Mr Wu said. "We are very pleased to have reached this important milestone and look forward to the next stage of our partnership with the supply of LNG in 2006."

North West Shelf Australia LNG president John Banner said the conclusion of the deal was a good example of co-operation between industry and governments in Australia and China.
"All parties should feel proud of playing a role in the development of China's first LNG project," Mr Banner said. "We look forward to... opportunities on how we can support the expected rapid growth in LNG demand in Guangdong."

He said that the finalisation of LNG supply arrangements now clears the way for other components of the overall commercial package negotiated with China to come into effect. These include equity participation in the North West Shelf Venture by CNOOC Limited and shipping arrangements through a Sino-Australian joint venture, Australia-China Natural Gas Technology Partnership Fund.
Woodside Petroleum operates the venture with its five equally co-partners, BHP Billiton Petroleum (North West Shelf); BP Developments Australia; ChevronTexaco Australia; Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) and Shell Development (Australia) Proprietary.

The Guangdong Dapeng LNG major participants are CNOOC Gas & Power with a 33 % stake, Pearl River Delta Investments which holds a 15 % interest, Guangdong Investments (15 %) and Shenzhen Gas Corporation (10 %).