Australia is battling stiff competition from Qatar and Indonesia to supply Guangdong province with 3 million tonnes of LNG a year for the next 25 years. The contract is said to be worth $1.4 billion in annual export revenue.
A spokesman for the PM said he would travel to China in the second half of May. Australia LNG, which comprises of Woodside Energy, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron, Japan-Australia LNG and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group is bidding for the contract.
Final tenders for the Chinese contract are due to be lodged by April 21. According to one insider, the Australian bid is trailing the BP-backed Tangguh project in Indonesia but is ahead of the ExxonMobil-backed Qatar bid.
