Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports declined just 0.9 percent in 2018 when compared to the year ago, according to the provisional data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance.

Japan, the world’s top LNG buyer, imported 82.8 million tonnes of LNG in 2018 logging the lowest yearly quantity since 2011. December LNG imports declined 8.8 percent to 7.2 million tonnes, the data shows.

One of the reasons that Japan’s last year LNG imports declined is the fact that the country’s power utilities are bringing online more nuclear reactors that had been shut in the wake of the Fukushima atomic disaster in 2011, boosting nuclear power generation and reducing the need for fossil fuel imports.

Despite the slight decline, the costs of last year’s LNG imports rose almost 21 percent. Japan paid about $43.1 billion for 2018 LNG imports, the data said.

LNG World News Staff