Tokyo Gas seeks upstream investment in Indonesia, Malaysia

Tokyo Gas Co. is considering expanding investment in upstream gas projects with the focus on the Asia-Pacific region, a senior company official said Tuesday.

"Basically (because) we are located in the Asia-Pacific region, so this area is familiar to us," Junichi Namiki, senior manager of Tokyo Gas's gas resources department, said on the sidelines of the Gasex 2002 conference in Brunei.

Namiki said Tokyo Gas may consider investing in Indonesia and Malaysia 's upstream gas sectors, without elaborating on details.

"We have to consider different factors (for investment)...including country risk," he said.

In March, Tokyo Gas Co. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced a plan to purchase a joint 10.08 percent stake in the Bayu-Undan natural gas field in the Timor Sea, located between East Timor and Australia, from Phillips Petroleum Co. of the U.S. Tokyo Gas will receive a roughly 3 percent stake.

At present, Tokyo Gas, the largest Japanese city gas company, imports 6.5 million metric tons a year of liquefied natural gas from six different supply sources. Malaysia is by far the largest supplier, selling over 3 million tons a year to the company. (*)