WAtoday: Asian Giants Want Majority Stakes in Australian LNG Projects

Asian companies will seek to take majority stakes in Australian liquefied natural gas projects within five years, KPMG Asia Pacific energy head Mina Sekiguchi says.

Ms Sekiguchi, KPMG's Tokyo-based head of energy and natural resources in Asia Pacific, said Asian utilities, trading houses and national oil companies, particularly from Japan, were enthusiastic about using their minority positions as platforms for further investment and potential acquisitions.

"Some are looking to be operators or take bigger stakes and they think taking these minority stakes is a good way to learn," she said. "In probably five years time once construction ends and we start shipping I think it could trigger the next phase where Japan will get more involved in these projects. MORE