Mitsubishi acquires 16.3 percent stake in Tangguh project
Mitsubishi acquires 16.3 percent stake in Tangguh project
TOKYO (Agencies): Mitsubishi Corp. said it acquired Occidental Berau of Indonesia LLC, a unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp. of the U.S., Wednesday for 60 billion yen, giving it a 16.3 percent stake in the Tangguh LNG project in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.
Tangguh, covering three areas - Berau, Muturi and Wirigar, is located in the northwest part of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Occidental Berau has a stake in the Berau block.
The share transaction made the Japanese trading giant the second largest equity holder in the Tangguh LNG project after BP PLC, which has 50 percent stake.
Tangguh has 14.4 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, Mitsubishi said.
Participation in the Tangguh project increased Mitsubishi-held natural gas and crude oil reserves, based on its equity holdings, by 33 percent to an equivalent of 1.6 billion barrels of crude oil from 1.2 billion barrels, the company said in a statement.
In Jakarta, state oil and gas company Pertamina and BP said they welcome the addition of Mitsubishi to the Tangguh project partnership.
"We are pleased to have Mitsubishi join us on Tangguh.
"As a partnership, we are working towards the earliest possible development and Mitsubishi's presence can only further enhance confidence in Tangguh's gas marketing success in Japan as well as in China and Korea, where we have registered much interest in this world-class gas field," BP Associate President, Indonesia Bill Schrader said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post.
BP announced on July 6 that it had increased its share of Tangguh from 40 percent to 50 percent thorugh the acquisition of Cairns Ltd.
With the acquistion of Occidental's shares by Mitsubishi, the proved reserves in the Tangguh project are now 50 percent owned by BP, 16 percent by Mitsibishi, 12 percent Nippon, 11 percent British Gas, 10 percent KG (Kanematsu Group) and 1 percent by Nissho Iwai.
Pertamina has said it is considering development of Tangguh as its third LNG export center after the Bontang and Arun gas fields.
The first and second LNG processing plants at Tangguh, each with capacity of 3 million to 3.5 million metric tons a year, are scheduled to come onstream in 2006.
An international tender will be opened in the second half of this year for construction of the processing plants, or trains, Mitsubishi said.
Pertamina hopes to sell the LNG to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as China. (jsk)