Mitsubishi Corp., the nation's biggest trading company, bought a 34 percent stake in Houston-based natural gas and oil wholesaler Cima Energy Ltd. to tap demand in the world's biggest energy market.
The trading house will sell natural gas in the U.S. through sales channels owned by Cima Energy, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement Friday.
Cima plans to market liquefied natural gas that Mitsubishi will deliver to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas starting in January, it said.
Mitsubishi, which has been delivering LNG from Oman to the U.S. since 2006, aims to increase sales to the U.S. market and expand its LNG business.
Global LNG demand is set to rise by 10 percent a year through 2015, more than five times estimated gains in crude oil, as power producers switch to cleaner fuels, according to Citigroup Inc.