OREANDA-NEWS. Sumitomo Corporation and Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. jointly announced, after extensive discussion since April 2012 with Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP (hereinafter referred to as "Dominion") the operator of the Cove Point LNG Project (hereinafter referred to as "Project") in Maryland (MD) USA, that a Terminal Service Agreement and a Heads of Agreement for Sale and Purchase with respect to the Project has been executed as follows.

Sumitomo, through Pacific Summit Energy LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary (hereinafter referred to as "PSE") has signed the Terminal Service Agreement with Dominion (hereinafter referred to as "TSA") for the liquefaction service to liquefy natural gas to LNG, the volume equivalent to approximately 2.3 mtpa, for export (hereinafter referred to as the "Project").

Tokyo Gas has established a wholly owned subsidiary, TG PLUS Co., Ltd. on February 28th, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as "TG PLUS") which has entered into a heads of agreement with Sumitomo for the sale and purchase of a volume of 1.4 mtpa of LNG (hereinafter referred to as "LNG HoA"). It is expected that Tokyo Gas will be entering into a LNG sale and purchase agreement with TG PLUS to import LNG to Japan.

Sumitomo and Tokyo Gas will further investigate the possibility of establishing a joint venture vehicle to implement the TSA which has been agreed between PSE and Dominion.

Sumitomo has succeeded in marketing the full amount of LNG (approximately 2.3mtpa) from the Project.

The Project will involve the construction of a new natural gas liquefaction facility at the existing Cove Point LNG Terminal currently in operation as a LNG receiving terminal, to export LNG produced from domestic natural gas (including shale gas). The contracted quantity for the liquefaction service of the Project is estimated to be approximately 4.6 mtpa. After several processes such as issuance of an authorization granted from the U.S. Department of Energy to export LNG to non-FTA countries, the Project will aim to start operation from 2017.