Japan Was the Biggest Lender to LNG Projects Last Year

Japanese banks were the biggest lenders to LNG projects in 2014, according to a report by Poten & Partners.

Mitsubishi UFG, Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp took first, second and third place respectively.

Japanese banks provided over $5 billion to LNG projects or 43% of the $12 billion of total lending in 2014, the report said adding this amount, which came from 11 Japanese lenders, jumps by a significant $6 billion once direct lending from the country’s export credit agency (ECA), the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is included.

The strong support for the US projects from Japanese financiers is due to the considerable presence of the country’s companies as equity partners and offtakers/tolling capacity holders and construction contractors on the US schemes, the report added.

A total of 48 lenders from 15 countries provided most of the LNG project finance funds in 2014.