Santos, Osaka Gas and Toho Gas for Production and Export of e-methane in Australia

[Sparty]

Commencement of the Pre-FEED Study with Santos, Osaka Gas and Toho Gas for
Production and Export of e-methane in Australia
August 21, 2024
Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.
Tokyo, August 21, 2024 –Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Gas), Osaka Gas Australia Pty Ltd (OGA),
Toho Gas Co., Ltd and Santos Ltd (Santos) through Santos Ventures Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of
Santos, have entered into an agreement to conduct a pre-FEED study on a project to produce emethane*１ at Moomba in the Cooper Basin, located in the central eastern part of Australia, where Santos has knowledge from decades of development and operation of upstream gas fields, and to export e-methane to Japan.

This study is based on the results of the feasibility study*2 undertaken by Tokyo Gas and Santos
since November 2023. The project aims to export more than 130,000 tons of e-methane per year
(equivalent to approx. 180 million m3 of city gas per year) to Japan from 2030 at the earliest.
For this Pre-FEED initiative, Tokyo Gas has secured a subsidy of Japan’s Ministry of Economy,
Trade, and Industry*3
.
Tokyo Gas is collaborating with various entities in Japan and overseas to achieve net-zero
*1: E-methane is synthetic methane (CH4) produced from non-fossil energy sources such as
green hydrogen.
*2: “Commencement of the Joint Feasibility Study with Santos for Production and Export of emethane in Australia” (announced on November 21, 2023)
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Subcommittee on Electricity and Gas Basic Policy, Gas
Utility System Study Working Group "Interim Report on Carbon Neutralization of City Gas"
(published 29 June 2023).
*3: FY2024 Public Call for Subsidies for the Project to Support Decarbonization and Energy
Conversion Technologies in Resource-Rich Countries｜National Agency for Natural Resources and
Energy(meti.go.jp)
*4: Methanation is a technology to produce methane (CH4), the main component of city gas,
through the reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2).
*5: 1% of city gas sales excluding wholesaling and power generation