BP seeks LNG buyers to finance Indonesia's Tangguh Train 3 project

By Wilda Asmarini

JAKARTA, April 14 (Reuters) - BP said it would be tough to proceed with financing for a planned third LNG train at its Tangguh project in West Papua, Indonesia if it is unable to find buyers for the remaining 1.3 million tonnes of annual output from the production plant.

Prospects for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) developments globally have been hammered by the fallout from a 50-percent drop in oil prices since last June. The situation in Asia is set to get worse as two LNG projects in Australia come onstream this year, crowding an already amply supplied market.

"There is still 1.3 million tonnes per year that has not yet (been sold)," said Dharmawan Samsu, head of country at BP Indonesia, noting that so far the firm has only found buyers for 2.5 million tonnes of expected output from Train 3.

Without new buyers for the remainder it would be "difficult to proceed" with financing the third train, which is currently expected to be completed by 2020, he said on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)