Supporting Participation by Osaka Gas in Ichthys LNG Project in Australia
Contributing to Securing Long-Term and Stable Supplies of Energy Resources to Japan through Supporting Japanese Gas Company's Participation in Large-Scale LNG Project

• Region: Oceania
• Energy and Natural Resources
• Overseas Investment Loans

1. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC; Governor: Hiroshi Okuda) signed a loan agreement totaling up to 68.6 million U.S. dollars (JBIC portion) with Osaka Gas Ichthys Pty Ltd (OGI), a wholly-owned Australian subsidiary of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (Osaka Gas).^*1 The loan is cofinanced with The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ. The overall cofinancing amount is 98 million U.S. dollars.
    
2. In this Project, INPEX CORPORATION, TOTAL S.A., a French company, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Gas), TOHO GAS Co., Ltd. and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., all of which have indirect equity stakes in Ichthys LNG Pty Ltd (Ichthys LNG) in Australia, will develop the Ichthys Gas and Condensate^*2 Field off the northwest coast of Western Australia; transport the produced gas through subsea gas pipelines to the onshore liquefaction plant to be built in Darwin, Northern Territory; and produce and sell liquefied natural gas (LNG; annual production capacity: 8.4 million tons), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate through Ichthys LNG.
    
3. This loan is intended to finance OGI for developing the gas and condensate field and producing LNG and other petroleum products. OGI has a long-term offtake agreement (lasting 15 years from 2017) in which it receives a supply of 800 thousand tons of LNG per year from this project. Thus this loan is expected to contribute to Japan's energy security by supporting acquisition of interest by a Japanese company.
    
4. JBIC will continue to actively support Japanese companies for developing and acquiring interests in natural resources, such as natural gas and crude oil.

Note

1. *1 JBIC signed a project finance loan agreement totaling up to 5 billion U.S. dollars (JBIC portion) with Ichthys LNG, the project company for this LNG Project. JBIC also signed a loan agreement totaling up to 141 million U.S. dollars (JBIC portion) with Tokyo Gas. See Press Releases on December 18, 2012 and Press Releases on December 18, 2012 for details.The loan agreement between JBIC and Osaka Gas had been already signed on December 4, 2012. However, this Press Release was issued to coincide with the Press Release on signing a loan agreement with Ichthys LNG today.
2. *2 Condensate is hydrocarbon obtained in the process of extracting and refining natural gas and condenses into hydrocarbon fluids at ordinary temperature and under normal pressure. It has lighter density than ordinary crude oil and can be refined into such petroleum products as gasoline, diesel oil, jet fuel and naphtha.