Japan's Toshiba to Sell US LNG Business
Japan’s Toshiba Group will complete the sale of its US LNG business by March next year and announce the name of the buyer when the deal is finalised, it said November 8.
Nikkei, however, reported the same day that Toshiba has selected China’s ENN Energy Holdings as the buyer. With the close of the deal, Toshiba America LNG Corporation is expected to be deconsolidated from Toshiba Group, and Toshiba expects to record a related loss of yen 93bn ($820mn), it said.
Toshiba America LNG Corporation, established in 2017, has entered into various agreements including a liquefaction tolling agreement with Freeport LNG Train 3. It has also entered into a natural gas transport agreement with an affiliate of the Enbridge Corporation.
ENN is one of the largest LNG traders in China. Recently, its Zhoushan terminal in Zhejiang province in eastern China received its first cargo, which came from Qatar. The 3mn mt/yr (4.1bn m3/yr) Zhoushan LNG receiving terminal is the first large-scale privately-owned terminal approved by China's National Energy Administration. The project includes two 160,000 m3 tanks, one unloading dock for 266,000m3 LNG ships, along with other related infrastructure.
Toshiba also said it was exiting from its NuGen business in the UK, incurring a related loss of yen 21.6bn as a result, and has taken steps to wind up that business. NuGen had been expected to develop a new nuclear plant at Moorside in Cumbria, northwest England. Analysts said it was unlikely that another business would buy NuGen and continue the as-yet undeveloped project.