Mitsubishi to Build $2.8 Billion Indonesia LNG Plant

Bloomberg, By Yuji Okada and Go Onomitsu - Jan 24, 2011

Mitsubishi Corp. Japan’s largest trading company, will build a $2.8 billion liquefied-natural gas plant in Indonesia with partners including Korea Gas Corp., the world’s largest LNG buyer, and state-owned oil company PT Pertamina.

The Donggi-Senoro project on Sulawesi island will produce 2 million metric-tons-a-year of LNG and 47,000 barrels-a-day of condensate from 2014, Mitsubishi said today on its website. PT Pertamina and PT Medco Energi Internasional, Indonesia’s biggest listed oil company, own two gas fields that will supply the Donggi-Senoro LNG plant.

“Profit for Mitsubishi from the project will be limited because it doesn’t have equity for the upstream part,” said Yasuhiro Narita, a Tokyo-based analyst at Nomura Securities Co. “But Mitsubishi will gain know-how of plant operation. That will be an important milestone for the company’s future natural resource businesses.”

Japanese trading houses including Mitsubishi are expected to report record profits during the 2012 Japanese financial year because of higher prices for natural resources, Macquarie Group Ltd. said.

Mitsubishi shares rose 2.1 percent to 2,321 yen at 2:13 p.m. in Tokyo, heading for the biggest one-day gain in two weeks. Medco rose 6 percent to 3,100 rupiah as of 9:52 a.m. local time, set for the steepest increase since Dec. 30. Korea Gas added 0.7 percent or 300 won to 44,400 won.

Partners

The joint-venture PT Donngi-Senoro LNG will sign a contract with Japan’s JGC Corp. to build the plant in Central Sulawesi. PT Donngi-Senoro LNG has signed long-term LNG sales agreements with Chubu Electric Power Co. and Kyushu Electric Power Co. and is negotiating with Korea Gas to finalize a deal.

JGC shares rose 2.6 percent, or 50 yen, to 2,028 in Tokyo as of 2:14 p.m.

A special purpose company, in which Mitsubishi and Korea Gas have 75 percent and 25 percent respectively, will hold 59.9 percent of PT Donngi-Senoro LNG. Mitsubishi solely has 51 percent of the joint venture, according to the statement.

PT Pertamina will hold 29 percent, while Medco’s share will fall to 11.1 percent from 20 percent as Mitsubishi strengthens control.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net; Go Onomitsu in Tokyo at gonomitsu@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell at crussell7@bloomberg.net.

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Kogas to join Donggi Senoro LNG plant project