PERTH, Australia, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Australian energy company Woodside said Tuesday it secured a deal with Japan's Chubu Electric Power Co. for 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas.
The three-year deal for Chubu secures gas from Woodside's Pluto LNG project in Western Australia. The financial terms of the deal were withheld by Woodside, which is headquartered in Perth.
Woodside Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman said the agreement follows a trend established with Japanese utility companies.
"The agreement demonstrates the importance of Pluto LNG volumes in meeting growing regional demand for natural gas and also Woodside's increasingly diverse LNG purchasing, sales and shipping arrangements," he said in a statement.
Japan started taking on more natural gas to compensate for the loss of nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Woodside said much of the LNG from Pluto is secured by 15-year sales agreements to Japanese companies Kansai Electric and Tokyo Gas. The deal with Chubu is for uncommitted volumes of LNG.
