Gas the next fuel to fire Australia's boom

OK. Great. Politically stable supplier for Japan's push to stop importing oil. Great news.

Japan has the technology and infrastructure to import, and it has the demand. Here is the supply.

Speed, I don't think there is a demand for natural gas in Japan at all. The use of it would require all new equipment for most homeowners because most use LPG or other fuels.

A switch to natural gas would be welcome although, in this earthquake prone country, we would still be stuck using tanks rather than have it piped in.

Doesn't matter much what Japan does. China will suck up as much gas as we can give them.

HeyLars

Speed, I don't think there is a demand for natural gas in Japan at all. The use of it would require all new equipment for most homeowners because most use LPG or other fuels.

You need to check your facts. Japan is responsible for about 30% of the total LNG import trade which makes it the largest LNG importer in the world. Japan also has 32 LNG-capable ports which is several times the number of reliquification terminals (ports capable of accepting LNG tankers) than its closest competition. If you live here in Japan then it's most likely that a significant portion of the grid electricity you use is generated by LNG.

USNinJapan2, I like facts. I also like cut and pastes and links. I can't cut and paste this so I copy it verbatim:

In Japan, the use of natural gas as a primary energy source is still quite low compared with consumption in the Eurpean Union and North America.

http://www.tohogas.co.jp/eng_index/020400/2008/04Natural.pdf

The link also states that use of natural gas is likely to increase as Japan works to meet the Kyoto protocols on CO2 emmissions.

I was not aware that natural gas was used for generation of electricity. That changes things. I was mostly thinking of use in the home.

The Economist had a good article last week on the huge reserves of natural gas in North America and the Asian export focus of a lot of the new developments. Japan (and South Korea and China) will not have to worry about supply for some time.