Mitsui looks at buying stake in Qatar's LNG expansion project
TOKYO, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co is considering buying a stake in the North Field liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion project in Qatar as a way to ensure a stable supply of LNG, a Mitsui spokesperson said.
"We have always said that we would consider investing in any quality LNG projects, and the North Field is one of the projects," the spokesperson said, but declined to give further details.
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Japan is seeking to diversify energy sources and sign more term contracts for the super-chilled fuel to ensure a stable supply following an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Nikkei business daily reported that Mitsui was looking at taking a stake in the North Field as part of a Japanese consortium in which JERA might consider participating.
JERA, Japan's largest power generator and biggest LNG buyer, is in various discussions with Qatar as the Middle Eastern country is an important LNG supplier, a JERA company spokesperson said, but declined to elaborate.
As for a long-term purchase agreement for LNG, JERA is in talks with various suppliers, including Qatar, the JERA spokesperson said, but declined to give any details of the discussions.
Japan was the world’s biggest LNG importer in 2022.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to strengthen energy ties and economic cooperation with Qatar in July when he visited the major gas producing country.
QatarEnergy has said it expects to sign supply contracts for nearly all of the new North Field volumes in 2023. Japan gets the bulk of its fossil fuel supplies from the Middle East.
On Wednesday, the JERA's trading unit and Abu Dhabi's ADNOC Gas said that they signed a LNG agreement valued between $500-700 million. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi. Editing by Jane Merriman)