Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc's (NYSE:BRK.A) energy unit has agreed to buy Dominion Energy’s stake in the Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Maryland for $3.3 billion.
The deal will boost the company’s limited partnership ownership of the project to 75%, with a unit of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners holding the remaining 25%.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy first took a stake in the one-train terminal with an annual export capacity of 5.25 million tons in 2020.
Cove Point, which is located in Lusby, Maryland, about 60 miles southeast of Washington DC, is contracted on a long-term basis to companies including Tokyo Gas and Sumitomo.
The deal will give Berkshire control of one of just seven operational US facilities that can export LNG at a time when the fuel has assumed an increased economic and geopolitical significance given the war in Ukraine, which has seen Russia cut supplies.
In a separate statement, Dominion Energy, which has been conducting a business review, said that it will use the proceeds to repay debt.
Robert Blue, Dominion's chief executive, said the company considers Cove Point a "non-core" business, and selling it would free it to focus on state-regulated utility operations.