Tokyo Gas Sees Near Doubling of LNG Imports by 2020

Tokyo Gas expects its imports of liquefied natural gas to reach 18 million tonnes a year by 2020 from slightly over 10 million tonnes last year as demand for the clean fuel increases, the company said Tuesday.

Japan the world's biggest LNG buyer, imported a record 70 million tonnes of LNG last year, and expects usage to increase as it becomes more dependent on the fuel to help meet energy demand.

Company President Okamoto said the company would seek to turn less-costly unconventional natural gas in North America and other regions into LNG for shipments to Asia to reduce gas procurement costs in the regional market.

However, Okamoto declined to comment on when and how the company would invest in upstream gas projects and how much extra LNG it would seek through such investments.