Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui," head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Masami Iijima) has agreed with Sempra Energy to jointly develop a natural gas liquefaction export facility at the site of Cameron LNG receipt terminal located in Louisiana, U.S.A. with the aim to reach final investment decision by late 2013 and to export the produced liquefied natural gas ("LNG") to the global market including Japan by late 2016.

A 100% subsidiary of Sempra Energy, Cameron LNG LLC, currently owns and operates the Cameron LNG receipt terminal and plans to develop a liquefaction facility with the export capability of 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), comprised of three liquefaction trains each having a capacity of 4 MTPA. The total investment for three liquefaction trains is estimated to be USD 6 billion. Mitsui has agreed with Sempra Energy to jointly develop the LNG export project by sharing the development expenses associated with the project, and will aim to reach final investment decision by late 2013 and to secure 4 MTPA of export capacity, which is equivalent to the production capacity of one train. Mitsui, jointly with Sempra Energy, will fund all development expenses, including design, permitting and engineering, and negotiate 20-year tolling agreements.

Mitsui participates in the development, production and marketing of shale gas and oil in the Marcellus shale area in Pennsylvania and the Eagle Ford shale area in Texas, with the current natural gas production volume of approximately 150mmcfd (equivalent to approximately 1MTPA of LNG). Mitsui intends to study the possibility of utilizing its own share of natural gas production from these areas, where the production volume is expected to grow in the coming years.

As strong growth in demand is expected to continue in the global LNG market in the medium to long term, Mitsui intends to maintain a stable supply of LNG by means of diversifying the supply source as well as strengthening its LNG supply capabilities.

To see the Cameron LNG Terminal site