Asia Pulse: MITSUI TO BUY STAKE IN MEXICAN LNG TERMINAL FROM SHELL:  TOKYO, Nov 2 Asia Pulse - Mitsui & Co. (TSE:8031) has agreed with Royal Dutch/Shell Group to purchase a 25 per cent stake in a Mexican liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal project from the Anglo-Dutch oil company for about US$100 million…” (ShellNews.net)

Nov 02, 2004

TOKYO, Nov 2 Asia Pulse - Mitsui & Co. (TSE:8031) has agreed with Royal Dutch/Shell Group to purchase a 25 per cent stake in a Mexican liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal project from the Anglo-Dutch oil company for about US$100 million, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned Monday.

The major trading house will be the first Japanese firm to get involved in operating an overseas LNG terminal.

Dutch/Shell has a 75 per cent interest in Terminal de LNG de Altamila (TLA), the builder and operator of the terminal, which is scheduled to come onstream in the second half of 2006. TLA is 25 per cent owned by French energy giant Total.

Located at Altamila on the Gulf of Mexico, the terminal will be capable of handling 3.5 million tons of LNG a year.

Construction of the terminal, which will mainly handle LNG imported from the Middle East, is designed to help Mexico diversify its import sources for the fuel. The country currently relies heavily on LNG piped from the U.S., but demand for the fuel is growing there, pushing prices higher.

The terminal operator will sell LNG imports exclusively to CFE (Comision Federal de Electricidad), the largest power supplier in Mexico, for 10 years after the facility starts operating.

The partnership in the project is expected to open the way for Mitsui to import LNG from Qatar and other nations, where the company is involved in LNG development projects, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Rival Japanese trading company Mitsubishi Corp. (TSE:8058) is taking part in an LNG terminal construction project near Los Angeles. That facility is scheduled to start operating in 2008.

(Nikkei)