LNG

May 1 (LNGJ) - Tokyo Gas, the Japanese utility and LNG buyer, said its natural gas sales volumes for all of fiscal 2018 are likely to be around 15.54 billion cubic metres, a decline of 0.2 percent year-on-year amid industry deregulation and more competition. “This mainly reflects expectations of a decline in residential and commercial demand,” said the company. “Although we anticipate a decline in city-gas sales volumes, we expect income from city-gas sales to reach more than 1,400 billion yen ($12.8 billion), an increase of 7.3 percent, chiefly due to a rise in gas unit prices and resource cost adjustments,” it added. “Meanwhile, we estimate a rise in operating expenses, primarily reflecting higher resource costs, owing mainly to the impact from the climb in crude oil prices,” said Tokyo Gas.