液化天然气公司 MidOcean 在 EIG 和沙特阿美的支持下，已同意收购马来西亚国家石油公司五分之一的股份，该合资公司持有壳牌主导的加拿大液化天然气公司 25% 的股份，MidOcean 周二表示。

该交易还包括马来西亚国家能源集团马来西亚国家石油公司（Petronas）在加拿大蒙特尼页岩气地区的五分之一上游资产，这些资产为LNG Canada项目提供天然气。MidOcean拒绝就交易价格置评，但一位知情人士估计交易价格略高于30亿美元。

LNG Canada 于 6 月份发运了首批货物，开辟了第一条从北美太平洋沿岸到亚洲庞大买家市场的液化天然气直达路线。

LNG Canada 具有供应成本优势，因为加拿大天然气价格一直低于美国亨利中心基准价格，并且在过去一周跌至历史最低负值区域。

一旦满负荷运转，加拿大液化天然气公司每年的出口量预计将达到1400万吨。业主正在制定计划，将该项目的产能翻一番。

壳牌持有加拿大液化天然气项目40%的股份，中石油持有15%，三菱持有15%，韩国天然气公司持有5%。加拿大政府表示，该项目的建设成本约为400亿加元（290亿美元）。

MidOcean 是私募股权公司 EIG 的液化天然气投资工具，由前壳牌天然气和液化天然气高管 De la Rey Venter 领导。

文特尔向路透社表示，一旦交易完成，MidOcean 的液化天然气年产能将达到约 270 万公吨，该公司正在寻求在亚太地区购买更多具有价格优势的液化天然气资产。

沙特阿美正寻求巩固其在液化天然气市场的地位，而三菱则在过去几年里都入股了MidOcean。MidOcean网站显示，MidOcean拥有澳大利亚和秘鲁液化天然气项目的股份，并正在洽谈加入墨西哥湾查尔斯湖液化天然气项目。

马来西亚国家石油公司拒绝就交易价格发表评论。该公司发布的交易公告称，这为未来与MidOcean的潜在合作铺平了道路。

（路透社 - Shadia Nasralla 报道；Jon Boyle 和 David Goodman 编辑）

Liquefied natural gas company MidOcean, backed by EIG and Saudi Aramco, has agreed to buy a fifth of the Petronas venture that holds a 25% stake in Shell-led LNG Canada, MidOcean said on Tuesday.

The deal also includes a fifth of Malaysian state energy group Petronas's Canadian upstream assets in the Montney shale gas region that feeds into LNG Canada. MidOcean declined to comment on the price of the transaction, but a person familiar with the situation put it at a little more than $3 billion.

LNG Canada shipped its first cargo in June, opening the first direct route for LNG from North America's Pacific coast to a huge market of buyers in Asia.

LNG Canada has a supply cost advantage because prices for Canadian natural gas consistently trade at a discount to the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark and in the past week have dropped into record-low negative territory.

Once at full capacity, LNG Canada is set to export 14 million metric tons a year. The owners are working on plans to double the project's capacity.

Shell owns 40% of LNG Canada, PetroChina 15%, Mitsubishi 15% and Korean Gas Corporation 5%. LNG Canada cost about C$40 billion ($29 billion) to construct, the Canadian government has said.

MidOcean is private equity firm EIG's LNG investment vehicle, led by former Shell gas and LNG executive De la Rey Venter.

MidOcean, capacity of which will be about 2.7 million metric tons of LNG a year once the deal closes, is looking to buy further price-advantaged LNG assets in the Asia-Pacific region, Venter told Reuters.

Saudi Aramco, which is seeking to strengthen its position in the LNG market, and Mitsubishi both bought into MidOcean in the past couple years. MidOcean owns stakes in LNG projects in Australia and Peru and is in talks to join the Lake Charles LNG project in the Gulf of Mexico, MidOcean's website says.

Petronas declined to comment on the price of the deal. A Petronas release on the transaction said it paves the way for potential future collaboration with MidOcean.

(Reuters - Reporting by Shadia NasrallaEditing by Jon Boyle and David Goodman)