Japanese trading house Mitsubishi said on Friday it would expand its ownership in a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Malaysia, acquiring 10% stakes in the Dua and Tiga units of the Malaysia LNG plant.
Operated by Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petronas, Malaysia LNG is one of the world's largest LNG facilities, with a total annual capacity of 29.3 million metric tons from four production units - Satu, Dua, Tiga and Train 9.
Mitsubishi already owns a 5% stake in the Satu unit and its investments into Dua and Tiga would run for 10 years starting from 2025 and 2024, respectively, the company said.
It did not say how much it was paying for the 10% stakes in Dua and Tiga. Japanese newspaper Nikkei, which reported the deal on Thursday, said Mitsubishi was expected to spend several hundred billion yen across the two projects.
Petronas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The project is the biggest single LNG facility supplying Japan, delivering 10 million tons a year of the super-chilled fuel, according to Mitsubishi. Japan is the world's second biggest LNG buyer after China.
Apart from the LNG stakes, Mitsubishi has also invested in 10 gas blocks in Malaysia and is involved in automobile, food, petrochemicals, metal and steel businesses there.
(Reuters - Reporting by Katya Golubkova in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Danial Azhar in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Sonali Paul)
