Supporting Participation by Chubu Electric Power in Ichthys LNG Project in Australia
Contributing to Securing Long-Term and Stable Supplies of Energy Resources to Japan through Supporting Japanese Electric 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 today a loan agreement totaling up to 7.5 billion yen (JBIC portion) with Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. (Chubu Electric Power)¹.  The loan is cofinanced with private financial institutions. The overall cofinancing amount is 12.5 billion yen.
    
2. In this Project, INPEX CORPORATION, TOTAL S.A., Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Osaka Gas Co., Ltd., Chubu Electric Power and TOHO GAS Co., Ltd. will develop the Ichthys Gas and Condensate² Field off the northwest coast of Western Australia; transport the produced gas and condensate through subsea gas pipelines to the onshore liquefaction plant to be built in Darwin, Northern Territory; produce liquefied natural gas (LNG; annual production capacity: 8.4 million tons), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate, and sell these products through Ichthys LNG Pty Ltd (Ichthys LNG) in Australia in which all these companies have indirect equity stakes whose shares correspond to their interests in this project.
    
3. This loan is intended to finance Chubu Electric Power for acquiring 0.735% interest in developing the natural gas and condensate field and the liquefaction plant to develop natural gas and produce LNG and other petroleum products. While participating in this project, Chubu Electric Power also has a long-term offtake agreement (lasting 15 years from 2017) in which it receives a supply of 490 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 For this project, JBIC separately signed three loan agreements respectively with Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. (which totaled up to 141 million U.S. dollars (JBIC portion)) on November 21, 2012; with Osaka Gas Ichthys Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned Australian subsidiary of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (which totaled up to up to 68.6 million U.S. dollars (JBIC portion)) on December 4, 2012; and with Ichthys LNG (which totaled 5 billion U.S. dollars (JBIC portion)) on December 18, 2012. See Press Releases on December 18, 2012, Press Releases on December 18, 2012, and Press Releases on December 18, 2012.
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.