Chevron signs $18bn North West Shelf natural gas deal with Japanese utility  

The Australian reports that Chevron are continuing their run of success selling LNG from the north west shelf - Chevron signs $18bn North West Shelf natural gas deal with Japanese utility.

US oil major Chevron continues to pull in more deals and equity partners in its two big West Australian liquefied natural gas projects, announcing it has agreed to sell LNG potentially worth $18 billion to Japan's Kyushu Electric over the next 20 years in two separate deals.

The two heads of agreements announced yesterday come as Queensland's LNG hopefuls, who want to export coal seam gas through Gladstone, have struggled to lock in buyers for projects they hope to approve this year.

Chevron says Kyushu has agreed to buy 300,000 tonnes of LNG a year for 15 years from the recently started $43bn Gorgon project on Barrow Island.

The power utility also agreed to take 700,000 tonnes of LNG a year for 20 years from the yet-to-be approved Wheatstone project planned for Onslow.

"The agreements with Kyushu Electric further demonstrate our ability to attract large and experienced LNG buyers as we develop these two legacy gas projects in Australia," Chevron Asia-Pacific exploration and production president Jim Blackwell said

On top of the gas sales, Kyushu, which is a customer of the Woodside-operated North West Shelf LNG plant, has agreed to take an equity stake in Wheatstone.

Australian coal seam gas firm Arrow Energy Ltd (AOE.AX) sharply raised its gas reserves and said that the increase would help boost its ability to supply gas to more liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.

Arrow, a coal seam gas supplier of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) in Australia, said it may be able to add up to 1.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves per year to its gross proved and probable (2P) reserves over the next three years, up from an earlier goal of 1 tcf per year.

The firm's 2P reserves, defined by the industry as having 50 percent chance of recovery, jumped by 50.3 percent from a year ago to 6,150 petajoules (PJ), while reserves by the widest estimate increased by 18.6 percent to 11,042 PJ.

"This acceleration of reserves additions will ensure that we are well placed for future commitments to further growth opportunities in the domestic market, the Fisherman's Landing project or (Shell's proposed) Curtis Island," Arrow's Managing Director Nick Davies said in a statement.

Total uncontracted 2P gas reserves from its operated tenements now stand at 5,379 PJ, the firm said.