BP has sold a 12.5 per cent stake in a liquefied natural gas project in Indonesia to China National Offshore Oil Corp, China's biggest offshore oil producer. The US$275m sale of its stake in the Tangguh field should strengthen BP's relations with the Chinese company and improve its prospects of winning more contracts to supply LNG to China.
Last September, BP signed a 25-year supply agreement with CNOOC for a terminal in Fujian province. However, in the previous month it lost out on a contract to supply LNG to a CNOOC-controlled terminal in Guangdong province.