Woodside Still in LNG Talks With PetroChina, CEO Says
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. remains in talks to sell PetroChina Co. liquefied natural gas from the $30 billion Browse project off Australia, after an initial supply agreement lapsed, Chief Executive Officer Don Voelte said.
Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer was also contacted by as many as five other potential buyers when the PetroChina accord wasn’t renewed, Voelte said in a Bloomberg Television interview today.
“Two people can pull out of the deal,” Voelte said. “Maybe as we progressed, maybe we kinda fell out of love with the deal.” An agreement to supply CPC Corp of Taiwan remains in place, he said.
The preliminary agreement with China’s largest oil and gas company to supply as much as 3 million metric tons of LNG a year was valued at about A$45 billion ($40 billion), Voelte said in August. Woodside expects Chinese demand for its LNG to increase, he said today in Sydney.
“Very little LNG goes to China at this time,” Voelte said. “It’s a growing market. Most LNG from our company goes to Japan, a little to Korea. We see China to be a growth market, but we don’t count on it to be the only growth market.”
PetroChina’s Hong Kong-based spokesman Mao Zefeng wasn’t immediately available to comment.
Wednesday February 24, 2010
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
