Regional LNG: ConocoPhillips to load first Darwin LNG shipment

ConocoPhillips said it expects to load the first liquefied natural gas from its Darwin plant onto a tanker due to leave for Japan later Thursday, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The LNG, produced with gas piped from the Bayu-Undan field in the Timor Sea, will be sent to Tokyo Electric Power Co. aboard the tanker Kotowaka Maru, a ConocoPhillips spokesman said.

The Kotowaka Maru will carry its full capacity of 125,000 cubic meters of LNG when it leaves Darwin, he said.

Another tanker should arrive in the next couple of weeks to take LNG to Tokyo Gas Co.

ConocoPhillips operates and owns 56.7 percent of the Bayu-Undan LNG project, with Australia's Santos Ltd. holding a 10.6 percent stake and Italian firm Eni S.P.A., with 12.1 percent.

Tokyo Electric Power and Tokyo Gas own a combined 10.1 percent and Inpex Corp. owns 10.5 percent. (*)