By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, Apr. 26 -- The nine Sino-foreign sponsors of the Guangdong liquefied natural gas terminal and trunkline project have signed the joint venture heads of agreement, BP PLC, one of the project partners, reported Thursday.
A joint executive office will now be set up to conduct a feasibility study for the project. The JEO will handle making "competitive LNG supply and shipping arrangements," as well as finalizing HOAs for LNG supply, shipping, and gas sales contracts.
A joint venture company responsible for construction and operation of the project will be established once approval has been received from the relevant government authorities.
BP said it was working with the objective of commissioning the project in 2005.
The Guangdong LNG project sponsors are the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (33%), Guangdong sponsors -- Shenzhen investment Holding Corp., Guangdong Electric Power Holding Co., Guangzhou Gas Co., Dongguan Fuel Industrial General Co., and Foshan Municipal Gas General Co. -- (31%), BP (30%), Hong Kong Electric Holding Ltd. (3%), and the Hong Kong & China Gas Company Ltd. (3%).