UAE’s Adnoc has signed a heads of agreement with Japan’s Osaka Gas to supply the latter with liquefied natural gas from its planned LNG terminal in Al Ruwais.
Under the deal, Osaka Gas will buy 0.8 million metric tons per annum of LNG, according to Adnoc.
Adnoc did not provide the duration of the contract.
The LNG supplies will primarily be sourced from Adnoc’s Ruwais LNG project, which is currently under development, and is expected to start commercial operations in 2028.
Under the agreement, LNG cargoes will be shipped to the destination ports of Osaka Gas and its Singapore-based subsidiary, Osaka Gas Energy Supply and Trading.
The agreement with Osaka Gas is one of several long-term LNG sales commitments Adnoc has signed with international partners for Ruwais LNG, which take the long-term sales commitments to 70 percent of the project’s total production capacity, it said.
Also, this is Adnoc’s first long-term LNG deal with a Japanese energy company since the early 1990s.
Osaka Gas said in a separate statement the the two firms will work together to conclude a detailed sale and purchase agreement in the coming months based on the terms of the HoA.
In June, state-owned Adnoc took a final investment decision to build the LNG export terminal in Al Ruwais.
Adnoc also awarded the $5.5 billion EPC deal to a joint venture led by France’s Technip Energies.
The LNG project will consist of two 4.8 mtpa trains with a total capacity of 9.6 mtpa, more than doubling Adnoc’s existing UAE LNG production capacity to around 15 mtpa, as the company builds its international LNG portfolio.
BP, Mitsui & Co., Shell, and TotalEnergies recently also agreed to buy a 10 percent equity stake in Adnoc’s LNG export terminal in Al Ruwais.
Adnoc will retain a 60 percent majority stake.