Cove Point LNG Project in the U.S. starts commercial operation 3 firms have visited the LNG Plant in Lusby Maryland

Upon the start of commercial operation of the Cove Point LNG Project in the US state of Maryland (hereinafter, “the Project”) on April 9 (local time), Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (hereinafter, “Tokyo Gas”) Chairman Michiaki Hirose, Sumitomo Corporation Chairman Kuniharu Nakamura, and The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. (hereinafter “Kansai Electric”) President Shigeki Iwane visited the newly constructed the liquefaction facility. Furthermore, Thomas F. Farrell II, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dominion Energy Inc., the parent company of the Project operator, Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG, LP (hereinafter “Dominion”), has also visited the plant and congratulate on the start of the Project among the parties.

ST Cove Point LLC (hereinafter, “ST Cove Point”), a joint venture established between Sumitomo Corporation and Tokyo Gas, will procure US-produced natural gas from Pacific Summit Energy LLC (hereinafter, “PSE”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, and liquefy the natural gas at the natural gas liquefaction plant operated by Dominion and then export approximately 2.3 million tons of the produced LNG annually for twenty years’ period.

ST Cove Point will export 1.4 million tons per year to Tokyo Gas Group and 0.8million tons per year to Kansai Electric Group by PSE. The first shipment will be sometime around late April, and it is planned to be received at Tokyo Gas LNG receiving terminal located in Kanagawa Prefecture a month later.

The meeting with Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the United States of America, was held on April 11(local time), the day before the visit to the plant. The ambassador commented the start of the Project is a great accomplishment in terms of the economic relationship between Japan and the U.S.

Tokyo Gas and Kansai Electric continue to partner up on flexible LNG procurement and to cope with supply demand fluctuation under “Cooperation to improve flexibility in LNG procurement” reached in April 2016.

Tokyo Gas, Sumitomo Corporation, and Kansai Electric continue to contribute to the stable supply of the environmentally friendly energy from the projects in the U.S., the world’s largest producer of natural gas.




<3 Companies visiting the LNG Plant>


（From left to right, Dominion Energy Inc. Executive Vice President Diane Leopold, Tokyo Gas Chairman Michiaki Hirose, Kansai Electric President Shigeki Iwane, Thomas F. Farrell II, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dominion Energy Inc.,Sumitomo Corporation Chairman Kuniharu Nakamura）

<Natural gas liquefaction plant at Cove Point LNG Terminal >





<Conceptual diagram of Project scheme>





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