Japanese government pulls out of LNG stake

BY RICK WILKINSON

THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT has decided to sell its stake in the PNG oil and gas joint venture with JX Holdings and Mitsubishi Corp.

The venture’s wholly owned company Merlin Petroleum Co has a 4.7% interest in the ExxonMobil-operated $15 billion LNG project.

JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration Corp (wholly owned by JX Holdings) has 36.4% of the venture while Mitsubishi has 1.6%. The Japanese government’s 62% interest has been put up for tender.

Closing date for interested parties is 31 March, however trade ministry officials believe that a buyer is unlikely to be finalised for several months.

The LNG project will produce 6.6 million tonnes of LNG a year supplied by gas from the Kutubu-Hides group of fields in the highlands. It is scheduled to come on stream in 2014.

Source: Oil & Gas Journal

Comments

[Reginald Renagi]

It's regrettable. We need to ask ourselves what do the Japs know that we don't in this futures market.