* Nippon Yusen says in talks with others to join project
* Companies set to invest $4.4 bln-Nikkei
TOKYO, May 16 (Reuters) – A group of Japanese firms is in
talks to pay $4.4 billion for a stake in Australia’s Wheatstone
gas field that had been set aside for bailed-out nuclear
operator Tepco, as the country looks to shore up long-term
energy supplies, the Nikkei business daily reported.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), which is now under
state control following last year’s earthquake and tsunami that
devastated its Fukshima nuclear plant, had planned to buy the
stake to secure additional supplies of liquefied natural gas.
Amid concern that Chinese and other foreign companies could
snatch the deal from Tepco, the utility asked trading house
Mitsubishi Corp and shipping company Nippon Yusen KK
to step in, the Nikkei said.
The government agreed to take part through state-owned Japan
Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC), it said, while
the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and private
banks would contribute about $3.3 billion in financing.
JBIC was also lined up to invest $1.1 billion and receive
non-voting preference shares in a special purpose company being
set up by the investors, the Nikkei said.
Nippon Yusen confirmed on Wednesday it was in talks with
others to buy a stake in the project, but said no decision had
been made. A TEPCO spokesman said talks on Wheatstone stake were
ongoing.
“Energy resources are a lifeline for Japan and important, so
it is very meaningful for us to be involved in the talks,” the
Nippon Yusen spokesman said.
Japanese utilities are driving natural gas prices higher as
they scour the world for fuel to power thermal plants with all
of the nation’s 50 nuclear reactors shut down amid safety fears
following the radiation crisis at Fukushima.
Although the long-term future of the reactors has not been
decided, Japanese leaders have said the country should scale
back its reliance on nuclear power, meaning it will need to
secure extra supplies of energy from other sources.
The Wheatstone LNG project off the coast of western
Australia, operated by Chevron Australia, is expected to
produce 8.9 million tonnes of gas a year from late 2016.
TEPCO has secured rights to purchase 3.1 million tonnes of
LNG, and said in 2009 that it planned to take an 11.25 percent
equity stake in Wheatstone, which would give it access to about
a further 1 million tonnes a year.
Japan’s Tohoku Electric signed a preliminary
agreement with Chevron earlier this month to take 1 million
tonnes of LNG a year from Wheatstone for 20 years.
Japan’s government agreed to a 1 trillion yen bailout of
Tepco last week.
