Trader Mitsubishi to Acquire U.S. Shale Gas Biz

Tokyo, Jan. 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday it will join a shale gas project in the southern United States. It will invest about 5.2 billion dollars, or some 820 billion yen, to acquire all outstanding shares in Aethon III LLC, Aethon United LP and related companies that operate the Haynesville shale gas project by around the end of June this year. The total acquisition cost, including the assumption of debt, amounts to about 1.2 trillion yen, one of the largest deals for Mitsubishi. The Japanese company is also considering converting the gas to liquefied natural gas for export to Japan. At a press conference, Mitsubishi President Katsuya Nakanishi said, “We aim to advance discussions with Japanese consumers.” The Haynesville Shale formation, which spans Texas and Louisiana, is a major source of natural gas and offers favorable access to LNG export terminals, including Cameron LNG, where Mitsubishi holds liquefaction capacity rights, according to the trading house. Mitsubishi plans to increase production capacity for the Haynesville shale gas project by over 20 pct through the acquisition. Annual production after the expansion is expected to reach a maximum of around 18 million tons of LNG equivalent, accounting for about a quarter of Japan’s demand. According to Mitsubishi, the U.S. gas market is the world’s largest in terms of domestic demand and production. The company said demand in the United States is expected to grow further, driven in part by rising need for electricity from rapidly expanding artificial intelligence business and data centers. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]