North West Shelf LNG tender goes to BG, Itochu and Statoil

(Adds detail on buying needs)

By Oleg Vukmanovic

MILAN, June 19 (Reuters) - Australia's North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant has awarded a cargo each to Britain's BG Group (LSE: BG.L - news) , Japan's Itochu (Frankfurt: 855471 - news) and Norway's Statoil (Xetra: DNQ.DE - news) as part of a tender, trade sources said.

BG has already dispatched a tanker to pick up its cargo, whereas Itochu's volumes will be delivered by Woodside Petroleum (Other OTC: WOPEF - news) , operator of the liquefaction plant, according to shipping and trading sources.

Sources said Statoil would likely provide its own shipping to transport the cargo. The transaction price was put by sources at $12-12.50 per mmBtu.

A trader said Itochu had been looking for one cargo prior to the tender, potentially to take advantage of currently low prices.

Statoil most likely will use its cargo to fulfil commitments to supply Petronas' Malaka import terminal under a 3-1/2-year deal signed in 2012, two traders said.

A glut of LNG supplies has spurred one of the sharpest downturns on record, prompting spot prices to drop around 40 percent from a late-winter February peak above $20 per mmBtu. (Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic; editing by Jason Neely)