Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (JAPEX) announces that Final Investment Decision for LNG project on the western coast of British Columbia, Canada is to be deferred which was scheduled by the end of 2014.

JAPEX had acquired a 10% interest both of the natural gas blocks in North Montney, British Columbia and of Pacific NorthWest LNG Project (estimated LNG production volume: 12MMtonnes/y) from Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS). PETRONAS and its partners in the Pacific NorthWest LNG project have decided to defer the Final Investment Decision (FID) in order to continuing work to secure necessary regulatory and other approvals from the Government of Canada and reduce costs associated with the pipeline and LNG facility which remain challenging.

About Japex

Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (JAPEX) is engaged in oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) activities both in Japan and overseas. Its main operating areas are Hokkaido, Akita, Yamagata and Niigata in Japan. Overseas, JAPEX is active in Canada, Indonesia, Iraq and other regions where it has offshore interests. JAPEX was founded in December 1955 as a special-purpose company through a government initiative and has continued to explore and produce oil and natural gas in Japan while expanding its activities overseas. Between 1967 and 1970, JAPEX was incorporated into the Japan Petroleum Development Corporation (JPDC) as its E&P operating body. Thereafter, JAPEX was separated and re-established as a private-sector company under the former Commercial Code in April 1970. JAPEX listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2003.

See the site of Pacific NorthWest LNG Project