LNG price per MMBtu Japan 2013-2025
Natural gas production in Japan
Since Japan has limited natural resources, it heavily depends on imports for its primary energy supply. Only a small amount of the total supply of natural gas energy is produced domestically in areas such as Hokkaido, Chiba, or Niigata Prefecture. The natural gas produced in the around 60 oil and natural gas mines operating in Japan is mainly wet and dry natural gas. Minami-Kanto natural gas fields dissolved in water, which lies across Chiba Prefecture and surrounding prefectures, yields close to 20 percent of the total production of natural gas in the country. The saltwater in the field also includes a great amount of iodine. Japan is hence one of the leading countries regarding iodine production.
LNG imports
Apart from the two percent of in-house natural gas production, the rest of the natural gas supply in Japan originates from liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from countries like Australia, the state of Qatar, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Japan imported over 71 megatons of LNG in recent years, making the country the world’s largest importer of LNG. Natural gas and LNG accounted for over 23 percent of the total primary energy supply in Japan, indicating that natural gas and LNG are some of the most essential resources the country requires.