Japanese

Williams Partners LP said Wednesday the Japanese firm, Marubeni Corp., is taking a 49% stake in its Gulfstar FPS project, the first floating production system built entirely in the United States.

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell is on a trade mission to talk up exports of liquefied Alaskan gas to Asian markets. Parnell is slated to meet with Japanese and South Korean officials and business leaders over the coming days. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry arranged a meeting of Parnell and executives from companies such as Samsung C&T, STX Energy, Daesung Industrial Co. Ltd., Korea Midland Power Co., GS Global Co., LG International Corp., Hyundai Heavy Industries and Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. Ltd. Parnell recently met with the CEO of Kogas to discuss Alaska’s role as an LNG exporter and the state’s desire to boost exports with an in-state gas pipeline. Alaska’s major oil and gas producers and TC-Alaska are working with the Alaska Pipeline Project on the commercialization of North Slope gas with a specific focus on a large-scale liquefied natural gas project in Southcentral Alaska (see Daily GPI, July 31).

Japanese government officials on Friday announced a proposal to phase out nuclear power by the late 2030s, a major policy shift that ensures the country will need to rely on imported energy and could secure its position as the world’s biggest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Japanese chemical manufacturer Kuraray Co. Ltd. announced Tuesday that it plans to take advantage of an abundance of shale gas in the United States and will build a $10.1 million facility in Texas to produce plastic.

Contrary to previous reports, the opening of a 1 Bcf/d liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal developed by a Korean-Japanese consortium has been delayed until early 2012, according to business news reports Friday south of the U.S. border. A variety of “setbacks” are being dealt with, an ICIS Heren report indicated.

Houston-based JGC Energy Development (USA) Inc. (JEDI), a unit of Yokohama, Japan-based engineering firm JGC Corp. (JGC), has agreed to acquire a stake in Eagle Ford Shale oil assets from TriTech LLC, the company said.

An affiliate of Japanese trading giant Mitsui & Co. Ltd. agreed to pay $1.4 billion to buy nearly a one-third stake (32.5%) in Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s 700,000-plus Marcellus Shale leasehold, The Woodlands, TX-based producer said last week.

An affiliate of Japanese trading giant Mitsui & Co. Ltd. agreed to pay $1.4 billion to acquire a nearly one-third stake (32.5%) in Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s 300,000-plus Marcellus Shale leasehold, The Woodlands, TX-based producer said early Tuesday.

An affiliate of Japanese trading giant Mitsui & Co. Ltd. agreed to pay $1.4 billion to acquire a nearly one-third stake (32.5%) in Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s 300,000-plus Marcellus Shale leasehold, The Woodlands, TX-based producer said early Tuesday.