Japan stepping up preparations to import shale gas from the United States

Business
Traders gear up for U.S. shale gas

JIJI

Japan’s top trading firms are stepping up preparations to import shale gas from the United States, a move expected to ease skyrocketing procurement costs for liquefied natural gas driven by Tokyo’s verbal bludgeoning of the yen.

Lower LNG costs will help curb electricity rates that have soared since the loss of atomic power caused by the Fukushima disaster sent demand for fossil fuels soaring. Only two of Japan’s 50 reactors are running.

The trading firms are expected to start importing shale gas from the U.S. as early as 2017 if Washington approves exports to Japan in the first half of the year. Read more...