AG&P receives investment from two Japanese parties

According to the statement, Osaka Gas Co. Ltd, through its affiliate Osaka Gas Singapore Pte Ltd (Osaka Gas), and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) have invested in a minority stake in AG&P. This capital will reportedly be used to help implement AG&P’s numerous LNG initiatives worldwide, including the development and roll-out of the following:

• AG&P’s City Gas Distribution business in India, where the company has won long-term, exclusive concessions to connect millions of people to CNG for their vehicles and piped natural gas (PNG) directly into their homes across South India and Rajasthan.
• Small and medium scale LNG import terminals, such as AG&P’s pending terminals in Karaikal, India and elsewhere, which will provide the crucial link to bring gas to population centres that currently depend on dirtier and more expensive fuels.
• LNG applications and logistics, such as LNG delivery to end-users via various transportation options.
• Additional intellectual property that has made AG&P and its family engineering company, Gas Entec, successful in the design, construction, testing and commissioning of LNG bunkering vessels, FSRUs, FRUs, FSUs and onshore variations, as well as LNG dual-fuel applications for ships and other vehicles.
• Advanced modularisation and field construction services to serve global energy and commodity markets in the US, Australia, the South Pacific and Southeast Asian markets and quickly increasing the development of domestic infrastructure in the Philippines, where AG&P owns and operates two major yard facilities, employing 4000 people.

Dr. Jose P. Leviste Jr, Chairman AG&P, said: “We are humbled and privileged by the trust that both Osaka Gas and JBIC have placed in AG&P. These are amazing institutions that possess tremendous expertise and experience in their respective fields. We have a great responsibility to work very hard for them and our other shareholders to continue to grow AG&P’s unique business model that captures a large portion of the LNG value chain after the molecule has been shipped.”

“AG&P and Gas Entec, working together, bring innovative, in-house engineering, project management, manufacturing, licensed LNG tank and handling system outfitting, construction, project development, customer marketing and operations management for LNG-related projects and for our modularisation, site-work and other customers. We look forward to changing how the LNG industry works.”

In the statement, AG&P claims that Osaka Gas’s investment signifies the next step in a long-term relationship in which both parties have worked together to develop LNG infrastructure projects in South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Americas, among others.

Mr. Katz Sato, Head of South and East Asia Business Development for Osaka Gas, added: “Osaka Gas has known AG&P since 2014. Since that time, we have come to admire AG&P’s unique ability to disrupt the natural gas value chain in areas such as city gas distribution, LNG import terminals, LNG bunkering, LNG engineering and advanced manufacturing. We strongly believe that this investment in AG&P will provide Osaka Gas with a valuable asset to create and develop new markets for Osaka Gas. AG&P’s single-minded focus in developing solutions with the end-customer in mind has been inspirational to our team.

“In addition to providing growth capital, Osaka Gas will also work with AG&P in other areas, including technical support, such as providing technical collaboration for AG&P’s major city gas initiatives in India where AG&P is commencing its build-out of 12 concessions that cover many millions of people across a wide swathe of South India and Rajasthan. Given over 110 years of Osaka Gas’s heritage, we are extremely eager to see this clean energy made available quickly and safely to the citizens of India who live in these geographic areas.”

JBIC’s investment in AG&P, meanwhile, was made in line with its policy objectives, to support Osaka Gas’s ongoing collaboration with AG&P in growing its overseas business.

Hiroyuki Nakashima, Director General of the Equity Investment Department for JBIC, said: “We have been impressed with AG&P’s talented management, especially in constructing an experienced team and bringing together capable players in their respective fields such as project management and construction, to carry out city gas distribution projects in India as well as LNG import terminal projects. We, alongside Osaka Gas, are excited to participate in the future of AG&P, and to continue our partnership with the AG&P team whom we have grown to admire over the course of our relationship.”

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/22072019/agp-receives-investment-from-two-japanese-parties/