LNG

April 1 (LNGJ) - Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) confirmed the signing of a loan agreement amounting to up to US$390 million (JBIC portion) with Singapore- headquartered Trafigura Pte Ltd. The loan is co-financed with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., bringing the total co-financing amount to around US$560M.

   “Trafigura is a major supplier of resources including liquefied natural gas as a market leader in the global commodities industry. The loan is intended to provide the funds required for a Japanese utility company to import LNG from Trafigura,” said JBIC. “Amid the growing global demand for LNG and the increasing uncertainty over resource prices, the loan, which supports the Japanese utility company in procuring term LNG through Trafigura, will contribute toward securing a stable supply of LNG, which is an important energy resource for Japan,” added JBIC.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) to proceed with further discussions for financing under the bank’s decarbonisation programme as ADNOC and a subsidiary have also pledged to continue supplying LNG to the Japanese along with long-term crude oil supplies.

“ADNOC is a leading energy company wholly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi with a clear intent to decarbonise its operations,” said JBIC.

“It has ambitions of achieving net zero emissions by 2045, promoting renewable energy, hydrogen and ammonia, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and other green energy initiatives,” explained JBIC in regard to the leading energy company in the United Arab Emirates.

“The heads of agreement is intended to aim at building a consensus in which JBIC will provide a credit line to ADNOC under ‘green operations’ to support projects related to decarbonisation and the energy transition implemented by ADNOC or its subsidiaries,” the state-owned Japanese bank added.

Carbon-capture and storage (CCS) is a technology that separates and captures CO2 that would otherwise become a greenhouse-gas and stores it in deep-water caverns or other geological formations.

ADNOC spin-off

ADNOC Gas, which was spun-off in March 2023 to become a separate company, is estimated to have the seventh-largest gas reserves globally and has signed supply agreements with Japanese companies.

The latest was signed in October 2023 with the trading subsidiary of Japan's power generation company Jera Co. Inc.

The multi-year agreement with Jera Global Markets, a utility-backed energy trader specialising in LNG and other fuels, builds on the energy partnership between the UAE and Japan.

The ADNOC gas subsidiary also signed a five-year LNG supply agreement with Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX) in August 2023.

JBIC noted that in addition to supplying LNG to Japanese import terminals the UAE emirate of Abu Dhabi was also key and long-term supplier of oil to Japan.

“As a stable and important supplier of crude oil to Japan for more than 40 years, Abu Dhabi is a strategic partner and a very important ally for Japan's energy resources strategy,” said JBIC.

High potential

“In addition, Abu Dhabi has high potential in the sector of decarbonisation and energy transition as it has abundant resources for renewable energy and subterranean structures suitable for CCS,” JBIC explained.

“The credit line under the HOA aims to support ADNOC’s initiatives for decarbonisation and to create opportunities for collaboration between Japanese companies and ADNOC, and it is expected to contribute towards realising the decarbonised societies that Japan and Abu Dhabi are aiming for,” JBIC declared.

As Japan's policy-based financial institution, JBIC said it would continue to provide financial support for sustainable development efforts, including those for global environmental preservation, by drawing on its various financial facilities for structuring projects financially and by “performing its risk-assuming” function.

The Philippines, the newest liquefied natural gas importing nation, has held talks with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and said the JBIC had expressed interest in energy joint ventures.

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has signed loan agreements underwriting project financing amounting to over US$2.3 billion for a power interconnector between  UK and German LNG import locations to also help guarantee against any future natural gas and LNG shortages.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation has signed a loan agreement in project financing for a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to be operated by Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines and linked to a gas-for-power project in the West African nation of Senegal where plans are also underway for LNG exports.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said it helped JERA Co. Inc., the largest Japanese utility and LNG importer, to acquire a 27 percent stake in Aboitiz Power Corp. of the Philippines for $1.58 billion.

Novatek, the operator of the Russian Yamal LNG plant and developer of the Arctic LNG II project, has signed a strategic agreement with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) on financing projects such as carbon-capture around its liquefaction and plants in northern Siberia.