LNG stockpiles held by major Japanese utilities were down by 3% to 2.12 mill tonnes in the week to 8th March, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed.
The stockpiles were in line with the same period a year ago and up from 2 mill tonnes on average for this time of the year over the last five years, according to the data. In the previous week, LNG stockpiles amounted to 2.19 mill tonnes.
Japan gets around 6% of its LNG supplies via the Strait of Hormuz, which is blocked due to the US and Israel war with Iran.
Overall, Japan holds just under 4 mill tonnes of LNG in inventories, METI said, equal to around one year of supplies shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
As the demand for electricity and gas in Japan is expected to be relatively low in the coming months, due to seasonal factors, METI does not see immediate risks to the stable supply of gas and electricity as of now, Kenji Yamada, METI’s State Minister, said.
