Sojitz buys Spanish LNG terminal owner

Japanese trader Sojitz has bought out Reganosa owner First State Regasificadora, entering the LNG terminal business in Europe.

Sojitz has changed the Spanish company’s name to Sojitz Regasificadora (SR). Madrid-headquartered SR owns 15% of Regasificadora del Noroeste (Reganosa), whose interests include Mugardos LNG terminal at Ferrol in northwest Spain.

Galicia-based Reganosa imports LNG through Mugardos to supply the domestic market in Spain and to reload cargoes for delivery to Asia and other parts of the world. It is planning to develop Mugardos as an LNG-bunkering hub, Sojitz said in a statement.

Mugardos handles LNG carriers up to Q-max size. It has two 150,000 mᶾ LNG-storage tanks. It was one of the first terminals in Europe to receive US LNG from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal.

Sojitz plans to “develop its global LNG business, with a focus on LNG-receiving and liquefaction terminals and will look at expanding its LNG-receiving terminal business into Asean and other countries in south Asia, and to develop its LNG-liquefaction business to create a stable energy supply for Japan, the world’s largest importer of LNG”.

In Spain, it has pledged to support the development of Mugardos LNG terminal. The deal positions Sojitz to re-export Atlantic Basin cargoes and to tap into new, destination-free US exports.

Sojitz entered Japan’s LNG-import business in the 1970s. Its activities include LNG liquefaction and marketing, trading and imports. It has invested in overseas LNG ventures, too, in Qatar and most recently in Indonesia, where it has joined forces with compatriot Marubeni.

Marubeni and Sojitz have set up a special purpose company with Indonesia’s state-owned electricity company PT Pertamina (Persero) to import LNG to Cilicap in central Java. Two weeks ago, they ordered a 170,000 mᶾ floating storage and regasification unit to support gas-to-power project Jawa 1, the country’s first integrated power project.

Ownership of Reganosa is split between Sojitz with 15%, the Tojeiro Group with 51%, the Government of Galicia with 24.3% and Sonatrach of Algeria with 10%.