Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 28 2022

AsiaElec GAS GENERATION AsiaElec

Japan considers steps to

conserve gas supplies

JAPAN JAPAN is considering steps to conserve natural access to Russian oil and gas.
gas supplies amid fears of a potential disruption. This week the Japanese Ministry of Econ-
This week it emerged that Tokyo may ask house- omy, Trade and Industry (METI) called for a
holds and businesses to cut back on gas usage discussion on creating a framework that would
when supply is tight. allow the government to ask households and
This comes after Moscow ordered the trans- businesses to conserve gas when necessary.
fer of ownership in the Sakhalin-2 oil and LNG According to a document released on July 11,
project to a newly established Russian company the government believes that despite long-term
and warned Japanese firms Mitsui & Co. and LNG contracts helping Japan to secure stable
Mitsubishi, which own stakes in the project, that supply, rising competition means conservation
they could lose their access to it. measures will be necessary if energy procure-
Mitsui holds a 12.5% stake in Sakhalin-2, ment is disrupted.
while Mitsubishi owns 10%. Tokyo has previ- The document said the government would
ously said that Japanese companies would not first ask households and businesses to cut back
give up their stakes in the project given the coun- on gas usage to the best of their abilities. If this
try’s high level of dependence on energy imports proves insufficient to avoid supply shortages,
and worries over whose hands those stakes could then stricter targets could be brought in.
end up in. However, the Group of Seven (G7) Tokyo is already asking Japan’s population to
countries – which include Japan – agreed at the play a part in power conservation, as electricity
end of June to explore ways of capping prices supply is also expected to be tight over the com-
for Russian oil, and Moscow is pushing back, ing months.™
including by threatening to cut off Japanese

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 28 13•July•2022