Posted - September 24, 2013 - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry
will be publishing benchmark prices of short-term contracts for liquefied
natural gas (LNG) imported from the Middle East and elsewhere, a major
business daily here reported Tuesday.
The ministry aims to stimulate price-sensitive short-term trades and place
downward pressure on LNG procurement costs, the Nikkei Shimbun said. Japan,
the world's largest LNG importer by volume, seeks to create a hub market for
international trades of the gas.
Previously, there were no data serving as a yardstick for the prices that
electricity and gas companies pay for short-term contracts. Short-term deals
account only for around 20 percent of gas contracts in Japan, lower than those
in China and South Korea, the newspaper said. The ministry will calculate
prices based on its survey of importers and trade statistics, and disclose
data later in fiscal 2013 through March. Releases on a quarterly basis are
planned starting next fiscal year, according to the paper.
The ministry hopes to use the data as settlement prices on the world's
first LNG futures market, which is set to open on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange.
Japan's bill for LNG has been increasing as utilities have boosted imports
of LNG for thermal power generation following the radiation accident in March
2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Last year, the nation took in a record 87.3 million tons. LNG has been
trading at higher prices because it is linked to crude oil prices, which
remain high. Furthermore, Asian demand for natural gas is projected to more
than double between 2010 and 2035.
Post to be found at:
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2335317&Language=en
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