Japanese buyers have kept a low profile in the past couple of months. Demand has slackened and Asian gas prices have plummeted.
While LNG imports remain historically high, globally the focus for spot trading has switched to the Atlantic for the first time since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami closed many of Japan’s nuclear power plants.
But that all looks set to change again next week when, according to local media, the government in Tokyo will launch a new energy policy calling for nuclear power in the country to be phased out by 2030.
The short timeframe for such a key energy switch is bound to excite the LNG sector, which along with coal and renewables must rank high among the preferred...
