METI says Japan LNG stocks at highest level in five years

Japan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) inventories, held by the country’s major power utilities, reached the highest level in five years on October 15, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The ministry said LNG stocks hit around 2.3 million tonnes as of October 15, a rise of 0.7 million tonnes from a year earlier.

METI revealed this data after its first round of meetings on LNG fuel procurement. The meeting gathered executives from Japanese power and gas utilities, upstream companies and trading houses.

It is a part of METI’s efforts to ensure winter LNG supply after the domestic electricity price soared last winter and the country experienced power shortages due to tight supply and demand, following severe cold weather and low LNG inventories, the ministry said.

METI said the latest LNG inventories of major power utilities are at a “high level.”

“Even if the forthcoming winter turns out more severe cold than average year, we should be able to avoid the tightened supply and demand experienced in the last winter as long as each company maintains fuel procurements as planned,” METI said.

On the other hand, should power demand exceed expectations and there are unexpected large-scale power source outages, supply and demand may become tight, the ministry said.

Japan’s LNG imports dropped in September after logging a rise for three months in a row.

The country received 5.41 million tonnes of LNG last month, down 16.8 percent when compared to the same month last year, according to the provisional data released by the country’s Ministry of Finance this week.

Most Popular

Shell adds another LNG carrier to its fleet

A unit of UK-based LNG giant Shell has added another chartered liquefied natural gas carrier to its fleet.

Energy Transfer’s Lake Charles LNG secures DOE extension

Texas-based Energy Transfer has secured a permit extension from the US DOE to start exports from its proposed Lake Charles LNG export facility in Louisiana.

Santos CEO expects Papua LNG FID in early 2026

France's TotalEnergies and its partners plan to take a final investment decision on the Papua LNG export project in Papua New Guinea in the first quarter of 2026, according to Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher.

More News Like This

Japan’s LNG imports drop in July

Japan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped by 6.3 percent in July compared to the same month last year, according to provisional data released by the country’s Ministry of Finance.

Japan’s LNG imports drop in June

Japan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped by 2.8 percent in June compared to the same month last year, according to provisional data released by the country’s Ministry of Finance.

Jera plans to build new LNG units at Sodegaura power plant

Japan’s Jera plans to build new LNG-fueled units at its Sodegaura power plant in the Chiba prefecture, as part of its plans to replace aging facilities.

Japan reports lower May LNG imports

Japan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports dropped by 4.3 percent in May compared to the same month last year, according to provisional data released by the country’s Ministry of Finance.