Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. said Thursday it will buy a 10 percent stake in a $5.5 billion liquefied natural gas project in the United Arab Emirates as part of efforts to ensure a stable supply of the natural resource for Japan.
The project, which will start production in 2028, is expected to produce up to 9.6 million metric tons of LNG annually, Mitsui & Co. said. The trading house is investing about $550 million through its subsidiary in the Netherlands.
The natural gas liquefaction project is led by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., which will maintain a 60 percent stake, with international oil majors BP Plc, Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE respectively acquiring 10 percent stakes.
Demand for LNG is on the rise globally as it produces less carbon dioxide than coal and oil when burned.
The joint project will mark the Japanese company's first investment in a LNG project in five years.
The trading house took part in the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia in 2019, but the company has not been able to start procurement of LNG due to the U.S. sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.
© KYODO
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1glenn
How about investing in renewable energy projects?
PTownsend
So instead of investing in renewables and trying to help Japan become energy independent, while providing jobs for Japanese workers, Mitsui will spend billions to keep Japan more dependent on a foreign nation. Thereby further enriching UAE's so-called royals whose allegiances vary with the winds. Plus the UAE is located in a risky area where wars over control of gas/oil and their shipment have been commonplace. The UAE has sent its military forces to Yemen to fight alongside Saudi Arabia in a war that is devastating Yemen. How will the gas be transported to Japan, all methods and routes involve risks. Long passed time to move out of the fossil era, and stop making the global fossils, especiall the oil/gas fossils richer so they can fight more wars.