Mitsubishi joins Malaysian LNG

Mitsubishi joins Malaysian LNG

TOKYO (Reuters): Trading company Mitsubishi Corp and another
Japanese firm have taken a five-percent stake in a Malaysian
venture to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in
Indonesia, industry sources said on Friday.

Malaysia LNG Tiga -- a joint venture set up by Malaysian
national oil company Petronas, Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Corp and the
Royal Dutch/Shell group -- plans to construct the LNG plant in
Bintulu on Borneo island.

Most of the five percent stake would be bought by Mitsubishi,
while the name of the other Japanese company was not immediately
available, the sources said.

The value of the stake was not known.

The company intends to begin LNG production by the end of
2002, producing 6.8 million tons a year.

The joint venture signed a confirmation of intent to supply up
to 1.6 million tons of LNG to three Japanese end users for 20
years beginning in 2004.