Mitsui & Co. announced today plans to charter eight LNG carriers to deliver liquefied natural gas from the Cameron LNG Export Terminal to its customers in Japan. The company notes that on 26 September, five charter parties were signed worth a total of USD $3.6 billion. An additional three charter parties are expected to be completed soon.
The charters are expected to commence in 2017 and last for a maximum of 25 years.
The news follows a 10 September decision by the U.S. Department of Energy to allow the shipment of LNG to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, such as Japan.