Australian LNG player Woodside has secured a loan worth $1.45 billion from the state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and private financial institutions for the Scarborough project.
JBIC said in a statement on Thursday it has signed a loan agreement amounting up to $1 billion with Woodside’s financial subsidiary.
The loan will sit alongside a loan facility from private financial institutions, it said.
JBIC said the loan together with the loan facility from the private financial institutions amounts to a total of $1.45 billion.
Woodside will use the funds to assist the company in developing the Scarborough energy project, which is located off the northwest coast of Western Australia.
In November 2021, Woodside took a final investment decision on the Scarborough and Pluto LNG Train 2 developments worth about $12 billion.
Pluto Train 2 will get gas from the Scarborough gas field, located about 375 km off the coast of Western Australia, through a new trunkline long about 430 km.
Overall, Woodside’s Scarborough and the second Pluto LNG train projects were 62 percent complete at the end of the first quarter.
Jera and Woodside
The loan follows a loan agreement signed by Jera Scarborough, an Australian unit of Japan’s Jera, on March 26, 2024 for a total amount of $1.23 billion.
JBIC’s portion in this loan is $831 million and private financial institutions provided the rest.
Jera will use the funds to fund its stake purchase in the Scarborough project.
In February, Woodside entered into a binding deal with Japan’s power firm and LNG trader Jera to sell a 15.1 percent non-operating interest in the Scarborough JV for about $1.4 billion.
Jera will receive up to about 1.2 million tons/year of LNG, equivalent to its equity interest in the project.
“The loan, which supports Japanese companies in obtaining a participation interest and procuring LNG, will contribute toward securing long-term, stable supplies of LNG, which is an important energy resource for Japan, and diversifying the LNG supply sources for Japan,” JBIC said.
In addition to supporting the procurement of LNG equivalent to the equity interest, JBIC established a framework with Woodside to create further potential opportunities for supplying LNG to Japan during winters when demand for LNG grows.
“Through this framework, JBIC hopes to promote discussions that enhance cooperation with the government of Japan, to prepare for emergency situations when the supply and demand balance for LNG is tighten,” JBIC said.
