Shizuoka Gas announced on Thursday that the investment enables the company to participate in an LNG business portfolio that includes upstream and midstream segments, and will contribute to the expansion of its business domain in the natural gas and LNG sectors.
The Japanese firm noted that MidOcean holds a portfolio of interests in LNG projects located in Australia, Canada, and Peru. These are LNG Canada, Gorgon LNG, Pluto LNG, QCLNG, and Peru LNG.
By diversifying risks across individual projects, MidOcean has established an integrated LNG value chain encompassing upstream gas field development, liquefaction, sales, transportation, and trading optimization.
Shizuoka Gas Group has developed its business by leveraging a value chain in natural gas and electricity, as well as a “strong customer base supported by long-standing relationships of trust with its customers.”
Building on these strengths, Shizuoka Gas is advancing the expansion and optimization of both upstream and downstream segments of its natural gas and LNG business in Japan and overseas, including its participation in a shale gas development project in the Eagle Ford Basin in the United States, in which it invested last year.
Shizuoka Gas said this investment in MidOcean represents “one of the concrete initiatives to further these efforts.”
Up to $2 billion
This announcement comes a bit more than a week after Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan announced it would invest $500 million in MidOcean Energy, marking the first step in its full-scale entry into the LNG business.
MidOcean, in which Saudi Arabia’s energy behemoth Aramco has a 49 percent stake, announced an equity capital raise of more than $1.2 billion.
This equity raise includes the $500 million commitment from Idemitsu and additional commitments of $790 million from both new and existing investors, MidOcean said.
MidOcean said that there is “significant further momentum from additional investors currently in documentation.”
Moreover, the company will continue to raise capital, with a cumulative target of up to $2 billion from new investors.
The company has received “substantial” interest from investors seeking long-term exposure to the LNG sector, supported by strong demand fundamentals, constrained supply growth, and LNG’s role in supporting energy security and the energy transition, it said.
