Veresen, the developer of the Jordan Cove LNG facility in Oregon, on Friday announced a preliminary agreement on key commercial terms with Itochu, including the purchase of 1.5 million mt/year of LNG (190 MMcf/d or 70.1 Bcf of gas) for an initial term of 20 years.
The agreement with Itochu, along with the March 22 agreement with JERA for another 1.5 million mt/year, came at a critical time for the project.
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 11 denied a permit for the Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline projects, and Veresen faces an April 11 deadline to file for a rehearing of the FERC decision.
FERC said that part of the reason for its ruling was that Veresen had not demonstrated the need for the project. With the commitment from two major stakeholders for 3 million mt/year -- half of the terminal's capacity -- Veresen's case for the project is now much stronger.
"This is the second major customer agreement for the Jordan Cove LNG project and it represents further proof of the market support for this project," Veresen President and CEO Don Althoff said in a statement. "ITOCHU is a leading global energy company and we are pleased to have them as an additional foundation customer for the Jordan Cove LNG project."
