Four firms launch study for e-methane exports from Australia to Japan

Japan’s Tokyo Gas, Osaka Gas, Toho Gas, and Australia’s Santos have signed a deal to conduct pre-front end engineering and design study to produce e-methane in Australia and ship it via Santos-operated LNG terminals to Japan.

Back in November 2023, Santos and Tokyo Gas joined forces to evaluate the potential of e-methane production in the Cooper Basin in Australia with a view to ship it to Japan.

E-methane is synthetic methane (CH4) produced by combining green hydrogen and CO2 obtained from carbon capture of industrial emissions.

Tokyo Gas said in a statement last week that this pre-FEED work is based on the results of the feasibility study undertaken by the firm and Santos since November last year.

Four firms launch study for e-methane exports from Australia to Japan
Image: Osaka Gas

The project aims to export more than 130,000 tons of e-methane per year, equivalent to about 180 million cbm of city gas per year, to Japan from 2030 at the earliest, it said.

The partners plan to send the e-methane from Moomba in the Cooper Basin via existing pipelines to the Santos-operated Darwin LNG export plant and the Gladstone LNG plant.

Once liquefied, the supplies can be shipped to Japan via LNG carriers.

For this pre-FEED initiative, Tokyo Gas has secured a subsidy of Japan’s Ministry of Economy,
Trade, and Industry (METI).

Osaka Gas also said in a separate statement it has secured a subsidy from METI.

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