Veresen Inc ties up half of Jordan Cove LNG output with second buyer

CALGARY – Veresen Inc. says it has tied up half the output of the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas project after signing on another potential buyer.

TheCalgary-based company (TSX:VSN) said Friday that it had signed a preliminary 20-year agreement with Japanese commodities trader Itochu Corp. for 1.5 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas.

The deal is addition to the agreement it reached with Japanese utilities joint venture JERA in March that, together with the Itochu deal, represents half of Jordan Cove’s proposed capacity of six million tonnes per year.

The project, on Oregon’s coast at the port of Coos Bay, hit a major roadblock on March 11 when the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denied Veresen’s application to build the LNG terminal and a pipeline to supply gas to the terminal.

The commission rejected the application in part because Veresen did not have sales contracts signed and so had not demonstrated a public benefit that would outweigh the potential for adverse impacts on landowners and communities.

Veresen said it was filing a request on Friday for a rehearing of the decision and would be submitting the recent agreements in support of its submission.