The much delayed deal, between terminal developers BP Plc and China National Offshore Oil Corp, a consortium of banks made up of Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the China’s State Development Bank, and Woodside will see around US$628 million being made available for the project.

In a statement Woodside said, “[The signing was] a very positive development for the Guangdong project. It remains on schedule for LNG shipments to begin in the second half of 2006 and Woodside and its partners plan to ship LNG to China at an annual rate of 3.3 million metric tons as the country includes more imported gas in its energy mix.”

According to WA state development minister, Clive Brown, “A total of 11 gas offtake contracts will see A$25 billion worth of gas from the Woodside-operated North West Shelf used in Guangdong province and neighboring Hong Kong [and] underpin the LNG export deal signed in 2002 between the North West Shelf and China.”

The North West Shelf is a JV between Woodside, BHP Billiton, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, ChevronTexaco Corp, BP, and Japan Australia LNG (a JV between Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui & Co).

Although Brown alluded to 11 contracts, 15 contracts were apparently signed during the signing ceremony but, at press time, only gas sales deals between the “Guangdong terminal and electricity end-users in Guangdong and Hong Kong” have been mentioned.

The parties involved in the signing have also set up the Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company Ltd to oversee the construction and management of the project.