The acceleration follows an 80% stake purchase and $300 million investment by U.S. investment and development firm Nebula Energy.
Until now, AG&P LNG was fully-owned by AG&P Group, which counts Osaka Gas (9532.T), opens new tab and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation as investors.
"These projects are all at a very advanced stage ... We are focused today on South and Southeast Asia. Our home markets are going to be the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, India," Karthik Sathyamoorthly, chief executive of AG&P LNG, told Reuters.
"The common theme across Southeast Asia is domestic gas is declining. LNG is the only way to keep gas-fired power plants going."
The six LNG terminals will have a total capacity of 25 million tons per annum (mtpa), one of which will be in Karaikal, India. The company broke ground on the import facility at Karaikal port in the southern city of Puducherry in February 2020, before COVID-related curbs slowed the terminal's development.
Sathyamoorthly declined to provide details on where the remaining terminals will be located.
The terminals will add to AG&P LNG's PHLNG in Batangas Bay, south of Manila, the first among seven LNG terminal projects approved by the Philippine government to come online.
Natural gas is seen in many parts of the world as a bridging fuel as economies seek a transition to lower carbon energy, but investments face uncertainty now that a price surge caused by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has eased.
Cheaper LNG could, however, spur demand from emerging market buyers in South and Southeast Asia, with Chinese and Indian importers already buying some spot cargoes earlier this month.
Spot prices of Asian LNG have been falling since November, dipping below $10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) this month following mild winter weather and high inventory levels.
