Quantities of liquefied natural gas provided for the market in Japan are diverted to Europe.

This was stated by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan Koiti Hagiuda, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.

He added that this step was taken at the request of the United States and Europe and the decision was taken after sufficient quantities were provided for the internal market.

The reserves of liquefied natural gas in the tanks of Japanese energy companies currently exceed approximately 10 percent from last year, and these volumes can be used for external supplies to the EU in the event of a military conflict in Ukraine.

This was announced today by the economic newspaper "Nicaea", citing data from experts.

As of January 30, there were 1.67 million tons of liquefied natural gas in storage facilities in Japan.

In addition to using some of these reserves, the country's energy companies have the logistical capacity to supply shale liquefied natural gas directly from North American fields, the paper said.

New increase in natural gas prices in Europe by over 3%

In 2020, Japan purchased about 74.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas and ranks first in the world in terms of imports.

The largest suppliers are Australia, Malaysia and Qatar, which account for 65 percent of Japan's gas purchases.

Approximately 8 percent of deliveries are from Russia and 6 percent from the United States.

In recent weeks, Washington has been actively working to find alternative natural gas suppliers to the EU because the Old Continent is dependent on natural gas supplies.

Natural gas supplies could be subject to sanctions if the conflict in Ukraine deepens. 

natural gas

Japan

Europe