Origin Energy Targeting LNG Customer By Middle 2010

Origin Energy Ltd. (ORG.AU) Chief Executive Grant King said Tuesday that its liquefied natural gas joint venture with ConocoPhillips (COP) still hopes to find a customer by the middle of the year.

The partners want to make a final investment decision on their project at Gladstone in Queensland state by the end of 2010.

"If we were to stay on our currently articulated schedule, we'd have to say something by about the middle of the year," King told reporters in Sydney.

King declined to predict whether Origin would be interested in selling its minority stake in the Fairview coal seam gas field in Queensland to majority owner Santos Ltd. (STO.AU).

Origin and ConocoPhillips recently agreed to sell gas from another field in Queensland to that field's joint owner BG Group Plc (BG.LN).

"One deal doesn't imply another," King said, adding that he wouldn't rule a deal with Santos in or out.

Santos has agreed to sell LNG from its proposed terminal at Gladstone to its LNG joint venture partner Petronas (PET.YY). BG has finalized a deal to sell LNG to China National Offshore Oil Corp. and last month inked a preliminary offtake deal with Tokyo Gas Co. (9531.TO).

Origin and ConocoPhillips are yet to sign a customer for their project, nor has Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSB.LN) for its separate venture.

-By Ross Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4692; [e-mail]