Mitsui Eyeing Stake in BC LNG Project

Japan’s Mitsui & Co. could buy a minority stake in LNG project in British Columbia, according to a Dow Jones news report published Thursday.

"We are looking at equity participation" as soon as next year, Eiji Yanagawa, General Manager of Mitsui's Natural Gas Development Department, told the news agency.

The Japanese trading house is interested in a smaller-scale Canadian LNG project that uses a so-called tolling model not bound to any one supplier of natural gas, Yanagawa told Dow Jones.

Yanagawa didn't specify which LNG project his company is most interested in, but said it is evaluating those that meet its criteria such as the AltaGas proposal, which also is backed by Idemitsu Kosan Co. of Japan and other investors, the news agency reported.