Some of Japan’s biggest utilities believe that they would be able to find alternative gas supply in case they are no longer able to import Russian LNG, executives said this week, following U.S. pressure that Japan and other U.S. allies stop imports of Russian energy.
Japan imports Russian LNG from the Sakhalin-2 project, in which Japanese firms Mitsui and Mitsubishi hold minority stakes, which they kept even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, due to the importance of LNG supply for Japan.
Russian LNG accounts for about 9% of Japan’s total liquefied natural gas imports.
Japanese utilities JERA and Tohoku Electric Power can replace Russian LNG, if they need to, executives said on Friday.
JERA, which imports LNG from Sakhalin-2 under contracts expiring in 2026 and 2029, can tap alternative supply and “there is a good chance that we will be able to do something” if it has to halt imports of Russian LNG, Naohiro Maekawa, an executive officer at the utility, said, as carried by Reuters.
Tohoku Electric Power, whose Russian LNG imports account for about a tenth of its supply, is looking to diversify sources and be ready for a halt of supply from Russia, according to senior executive Takayoshi Enomoto.
Earlier this week, Japan’s Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, told U.S. President Donald Trump at their meeting in Tokyo that Japan would find it difficult to ban LNG imports from Russia.
The issue with Japan’s LNG imports from Russia came up during this week’s meeting between President Trump and Takaichi, with Japan’s PM seeking understanding from the U.S. Administration about the Japanese energy security, Japanese government officials told Reuters.
On the eve of President Trump’s visit to Japan, the U.S. reiterated calls on its allies, including Japan, to stop importing energy products from Russia.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Thursday that he believes that over time Japan would wean off of Sakhalin-2 LNG and “they will be part of a very large pipeline project that the U.S. is constructing in Alaska,” referring to the $44-billion Alaska LNG project, which the U.S. Administration has been pitching to potential Asian buyers.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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