Squire Sanders recently advised Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Japan’s largest natural gas utility, on an equity sales and purchase agreement with INPEX Corp. and Total SA to acquire a participating interest in the estimated US$34 billion Ichthys Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project in Western Australia.

This project, which was confirmed mid-January, is expected to produce 8.4 million tons of LNG and 1.6 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas each year, along with 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak production. 

Duncan Maclean, energy and resources partner based in Squire Sanders’ Perth, Western Australia office, leads the firm’s global energy and resources legal team which includes Carl Black, Glen McLeod and Margaret Tannock in Australia; Lisa Henneberry in Washington, DC; and Ken Kurosu and Steven Doi in Tokyo.

“We are pleased to advise Tokyo Gas and the other members of the Japanese buyer consortium in connection with the Ichthys LNG Project, which we believe will provide considerable social and economic growth opportunities in Australia and Japan,” Maclean said. “As a result of our firm’s ability to collaborate across borders, we were able to offer a global team with the experience needed to successfully counsel the utility on its participation in one of Australia’s most capital intensive projects.”

The Ichthys LNG Project is a joint venture between Japan’s INPEX and France’s Total. Tokyo Gas is part of a Japan-based buyer consortium that purchased equity interests and entered into long-term LNG off-take agreements for the project. Squire Sanders advised the consortium members, which included Kansai Electric, Kyushu Electric, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas and Tokyo Electric on Australian law issues related to the project.