Japan, South Korea May Jointly Purchase LNG

Japan and South Korea are expected to hold talks pertaining to joint purchases of liquefied natural gas to cut import cost.

Citing Japanese officials who asked not to be identified, Bloomberg reported the meet for talks will likely be before September. Japan and South Korea are world’s two largest LNG importers.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is under pressure to narrow last year's record trade deficit of $74 billion that was spurred by imports of LNG after nuclear power plants were shut nationwide following the March 2011 earthquake, Bloomberg said.

This would be the third round of LNG purchase talks between Japan and South Korea that began in November 2011, according to a document on the trade ministry's website. The second meeting between the countries that account for 50 percent of global LNG imports was held in May 2012.

Japan’s trade ministry will announce plans to diversify LNG import sources and tap new areas of supply such as North America and Mozambique at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Bloomberg reported.