Tokyo-based city gas provider, Tokyo Gas, announced Monday that it received its first LNG cargo delivery as part of a long-term sales contract with the U.S.
The shipment from the Covepoint LNG Project in Maryland in the U.S. arrived at Tokyo Gas Negishi LNG base in Yokohama city, Kanagawa prefecture, marking Japans first receipt of LNG derived from U.S. shale gas, a press release said.
The statement said Tokyo Gas received about 70,000 tons of LNG, which is equivalent to the annual city gas consumption of nearly 220,000 households.
The commercial operation of the Cove Point LNG Project in the U.S. state of Maryland began on April 9, an earlier press release said.
As part of the project, ST Cove Point, which is a joint venture established between Sumitomo Corp. and Tokyo Gas, will procure U.S.-produced natural gas from Pacific Summit Energy LLC (PSE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp.
ST Cove Point will then liquefy the natural gas at the natural gas liquefaction plant operated by Dominion and export approximately 2.3 million tons of the produced LNG annually for a term of 20 years.
ST Cove Point will export 1.4 million tons per year to Tokyo Gas Group and 0.8 million tons per year to Kansai Electric Group through PSE.
Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, Japan's ambassador to the U.S. had hailed the start of the project in April, calling it 'a great accomplishment in terms of the economic relationship between Japan and the U.S.'.
'Tokyo Gas, Sumitomo Corporation, and Kansai Electric continue to contribute to the stable supply of the environmentally friendly energy from the projects in the U.S., the world's largest producer of natural gas,' the press release dated April 16 said.
Monday's statement said with the procurement of LNG from this project, 'Tokyo Gas will promote the diversification of suppliers and contract contents we have been working on so far, and will realize the diversification of LNG networks.'
'Going forward, we will actively pursue further diversification and expansion of suppliers listed in the Challenge 2020 Vision while considering the balance of supply stability, price and flexibility,' it added.
Challenge 2020 vision calls for Japan to achieve a self-sufficient industrialized nation by the year 2020.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr