Mitsui says has no plans to sell stake in Mozambique LNG project

May 8, 2015 7:58 AM

TOKYO (Reuters) - Mitsui & Co Ltd said on Friday it has no plans to sell a stake in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off the coast of Mozambique and that a final investment decision (FID) is still expected by the end of this year.

The comments are in line with comments from project partner Anadarko Petroleum Corp, which said earlier this week it is not in talks to sell its multibillion-dollar stake in Mozambique's gas reserves and that it is working toward FID on the LNG project.

"We aim the FID to be made within this calendar year and production is expected to begin in 2019," Keigo Matsubara, Chief Financial Officer, said at an earnings briefing.

Mitsui has a 20 percent stake in the LNG project off the coast of Mozambique, which is working to become the first East African nation to export LNG, aiming to ship 10 million tonnes per year of the superchilled gas.

"We have no plan to sell a part of our stake at the moment," Matsubara said.

Mitsui, Japan's No. 2 trading house, reported a 13 percent fall in net profit in the year to March 31, as a slump in commodities prices forced it to book an impairment loss of 59 billion yen ($490 million) on resource assets.

It also forecast a 22 percent drop in net profit for the year started in April, weighed down by a slump in energy and metals prices.

($1 = 119.9800 yen)