SEPTEMBER
2014
LNGINDUSTRY
13
J
apan, the world’s largest LNG importing country, is
forecast to have a strong demand for LNG during
the period 2015 to 2020, thereby driving growth
opportunities for various enterprises engaged in engineering,
metals, equipment, construction, services and trading.
As the country becomes more dependent on LNG, the
domestic LNG industry is poised to grow and also seek out
global expansion opportunities.
Japan fostered the growth of the LNG industry in Asia by
being the anchor market for exports from Brunei, Indonesia
and Malaysia in the 1970s. It has relied on a diverse portfolio
of nations for LNG while heavily banking on Southeast Asia to
meet its requirements. Of late, Australia, Qatar and Russia are
supplying up to 50% of Japan’s imports, overtaking the
Southeast Asian suppliers. Apart from these, Papua New
Guinea and the US will be the other important sources for
Japan’s LNG supplies in the coming years.
High dependence on LNG
Japan has to import most of its natural gas in the form of
LNG. Electric utilities Tokyo Electric, Chubu Electric, Kansai
Electric, and city gas distribution companies, Tokyo Gas,
Osaka Gas and Toho Gas, are among the country’s largest
LNG importers.
Japan has gas networks developed specifically for a
service area. The city gas suppliers deliver gas to customers
