LNG in Japan: One year after the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami

It is now just over a year since the world was stunned by the images on television of the tsunami that followed the Great East Japan earthquake rolling inland along the north-east coast of Japan’s main island, Honshu, causing unimaginable death and destruction. Progress is being made in restoring the towns and villages, where few buildings were left standing and the Japanese economy is beginning to show signs of recovery. However, the impact on the country’s energy supply continues to be felt as nuclear units have shut-down leaving just one in operation at the end of March visual_editor01visual_editor. It is uncertain when units will be restarted and the role nuclear will play in Japan’s future energy mix. Japan’s power utilities have turned to LNG, crude oil and fuel oil to replace the lost nuclear output and conservation by consumers has also played a part in ensuring that electricity demand has been met without power cuts, except in the days immediately following March 11th. LNG Business Review looks at the impact of the events of March 11th visual_editor011 on the global LNG market one year on and considers the role of LNG in Japan’s future energy supply.