Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co said it had purchased a 92 percent stake in an unconventional gas asset in Texas with access to the US Gulf Coast industrial area, which includes LNG export terminals and ammonia plants.
According to a statement by Mitsui, it bought the stake from the operator of the asset, Silver Hill Eagle Ford E&P, a subsidiary of Silver Hill Energy Partners.
Mitsui did not reveal the price tag of the deal for the asset (a part of the Hawkville field, approx. gross 8,500 acre) located in South Texas.
Additional gas production is expected from this asset with further development and Mitsui E&P USA, a unit of Mitsui, will develop and operate the asset, aiming for stable gas production of over 200 million cubic feet per day from the field, it said.
Mitsui noted that the firm is also promoting liquefaction and export of US natural gas to global markets, and methanol production businesses using natural gas as feedstock.
“In addition to proactively pursuing upstream development projects, we will strengthen the natural gas value chain, including adjacent businesses, and work toward achieving further low-carbon solutions and decarbonization through the use of CCS (carbon capture and storage) and other measures,” the firm said.
Mitsui believes that natural gas and LNG will play an important role as a “pragmatic solution” for energy transition, and “we will continue to contribute to stable energy supply, enhanced quality of life, and sustainable development of society by further promoting our global natural gas and LNG businesses.”
Mitsui is already a partner in Sempra’s Cameron LNG export plant in Louisiana.
Besides the US, Mitsui is participating in LNG projects throughout the world, in Australia, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Russia, Indonesia, and Equatorial Guinea, according to its website.