Indonesia Dispatches First LNG Shipment From Tangguh -Government

Indonesia Monday dispatched its first shipment of liquefied natural gas from the Tangguh facility in West Papua, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said.

The consignment, for South Korea's POSCO (005490.SE), marks the commencement of the gas processing facility after it secured permit from the government in 2005.

Tangguh is run by a consortium led by BP PLC (BP), which holds a 37.16% stake. Other partners are MI Berau B.V., which owns 16.3%, CNOOC Ltd. with 13.9%, Nippon Oil Exploration Corp. with 12.23%, KG Berau/KG Wiriagar with 10%, LNG Japan Corp. with 7.35% and Talisman Energy Inc. with 3.06%.

The facility has agreed to sell 2.6 million tons of LNG to China's Fujian terminal per year, a total of 1.15 million tons per year to South Korea's K-Power and POSCO and up to 3.7 million tons annually to Sempra's terminal in Baja California, Mexico.

-By Deden Sudrajat; Dow Jones Newswires; 62-21 39831277; [e-mail]