Mitsubishi Corporation

Press Room

May 17, 2013

Mitsubishi Corporation Advances Plans for LNG Exports from USA

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has signed a 20-year tolling agreement with Cameron LNG (CLNG), a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (Sempra), for the liquefaction of natural gas which would enable export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the USA to Japan and other LNG demand countries as part of its ongoing efforts to provide a stable supply of LNG to the market. In addition, as part of its continuing aim to further strengthen its LNG value chain, MC plans to invest in CLNG to support the development of liquefaction project by partnering with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) who has over the years accumulated expertise in LNG, especially LNG transportation. Also, MC has secured precedent agreements with major pipeline companies to transport its natural gas that will be procured in the US domestic market. Meanwhile, MC’s marketing efforts to LNG consuming markets including Japan are progressing smoothly to accommodate the target initial delivery of LNG, expected to be in the second half of 2017.
                                                               
■ Joint Venture Agreement with CLNG
MC Plans to invest in CLNG through Japan LNG Investment LLC (JLI), an MC-NYK joint venture. In addition to JLI’s 16.6% investment, CLNG’s partners include: Sempra, 50.2%; GDF Suez (GDFS), 16.6% and Mitsui & Company (Mitsui), 16.6%. A joint venture agreement has also been signed this time in between these four companies. CLNG plans on reaching a final investment decision during the course of this year. Total project cost is estimated to be around US$9 billion to US$10 billion dollars with an approximately 12million tons of annual LNG production capacity.
 
■ Precedent Agreements with Pipeline Companies
Under the tolling agreement with MC, CLNG will process natural gas feed gas equivalent to LNG production of 4 million tons per annum which MC will be procuring from the domestic US market that will be transported to CLNG via natural gas pipeline. Consequently, MC has paved a major progress in materializing its LNG value chain by entering into precedent agreements with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company LLC (TGP) and Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission Company (TETLP) for the transportation of its natural gas feed gas so that it could be sourced from all major shale gas plays across the US.
 
■ LNG Marketing
MC’s marketing efforts include the traditional Japanese market to newly developing markets in which some negotiations are already in very developed stage. By making its continuous effort for the success of this project, MC is committed to contribute to the diversification of LNG source with the stable supply of US LNG export.
 
Reference Information
CLNG Press Release             ( http://cameron.sempralng.com/)
Company Outlines
 
1. Sempra Energy
・Headquarters:San Diego, California, USA
・Business Activities:An energy services company, Sempra is the Largest power generation and gas distribution company on the US West Coast
・Representative:Debra L. Reed, Chairman and CEO
・Year Established:1998
・No. of Employees:Approx. 17,500 (as of December, 2012)
 
2. Cameron LNG
・Headquarters:San Diego, California, USA
・Business Activities:Operation of Cameron LNG receipt terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana, USA
・Representative:Octavio Simoes, President
・Year Established:2001
・No. of Employees:Approx. 60 (as of MAY, 2013)
 
3. Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha
・Headquarters:2-3-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
・Business Activities:Global logistics based on international marine transportation business, cruises, terminal and harbor transport, shipping-related services, real estate, among others.
・Representative:Yasumi Kudo, President
・Date Established:September 29, 1885
・No. of Employees:1,603 (as of May, 2013)
 
4. Tennessee Gas Pipeline
・Headquarters:Houston, Texas, USA
・Business Activities:Largest pipeline company in the USA; a Kinder Morgan company.
・Representative:Richard D. Kinder (Kinder Morgan, Inc. and units, Chairman/CEO)
・Year Established:1997 (Kinder Morgan, Inc.)
・No. of Employees:Approx. 11,500 (total Kinder Morgan, Inc. and units) as of May, 2013

5. Texas Eastern Transmission Company
・Headquarters:Houston, Texas, USA
・Business Activities:A subsidiary of Spectra Energy Corp, one of North America’s premier pipeline and midstream companies in the USA;
・Representative:Gregory L. Ebel (Spectra Energy Company), President and CEO
・Year Established:2006 (Spectra Energy Company)
・No. of Employees:5,700 (Spectra Energy Company, as of December 2012)
 
6. Mitsubishi Corporation
・Headquarters:2-3-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
・Business Activities:Mitsubishi Corporation has six business groups which develop operations in the diverse fields of Industrial Finance, Logistics & Development, Energy, Metals, Machinery, Chemicals and Living Essentials. In addition to these business groups, Mitsubishi Corporation has also recently established the Business Service Group and Global Environment & Infrastructure Business Development Group.
・Representative:Ken Kobayashi, President and CEO
・Date Established:April 1, 1950
・No. of Employees:65,289 (consolidated, as of September 30, 2012)

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Mitsubishi Corporation
Telephone:+81-3-3210-2171 / Facsimile:+81-3-5252-7705
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