Britain's Centrica and Japan's Tokyo Gas have signed a non-binding agreement to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Anadarko Petroleum's Mozambique acreage, a deal that will help the US company reach a final decision on the project.
Centrica and Tokyo Gas will buy 2.6-million tonnes of LNG per year (mmta) from the start of operations until the early 2040s, the companies said in a statement.
"The transaction represents the first long-term offtake agreement from Africa for both Tokyo Gas and Centrica in line with ongoing efforts to further diversify their respective portfolios of LNG sources," Centrica said in a statement.
The agreement pushes Anadarko closer to reaching a 8.1 mmta target in potential sales needed to trigger a final investment decision that would formally commit it to going ahead with the $20-billion project.
Anadarko had already agreed commercial terms including volume and price for 5.1 mmta of LNG off-take deals from Mozambique, the company said in February.
It is also seeking to raise $14-billion to $15-billion from banks and export credit agencies, the largest ever loan in the LNG sector, sources told Reuters in May.
The US oil major aims to build from scratch a 17,000-acre liquefaction complex in Mozambique's remote north to chill gas pumped from the Golfinho/Atum fields in its Area 1 deepwater block, 16.5 km (10 miles) offshore.
It will produce 12.88 mmta of LNG in its initial phase, which can be expanded to 50 mmta.