Japan is already the largest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world. The Fukhusima nuclear disaster last March makes another push away from electricity made by reactors. That is a fact the partners in the Barents Sea Shtokman-field want to benefit from.
“The Japanese market is the biggest LNG market in the world and considering the decision by the Japanese government to reduce nuclear power generation, the demand for LNG into Japan will only increase,” Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told reporters on Monday, Reuters reports.
“So of course LNG deliveries from Shtokman field are being considered by the partners,” Miller said.
The prominent Gazprom leader then agrees with another expert on the developments in the Barents-region. Just days after the Fukushima nuclear accident, Barents Secretariat adviser Harald Sørensen said to BarentsObserver that Shtokman LNG is a likely source to substitute nuclear power in Japan.
“It might very well be that the current changes in the energy situation in Japan could influence the decision on investment for the Shtokman LNG project,” Harald Sørensen said.
Read more: Japan nuke disaster can trigger Shtokman investment
Several shipping companies worldwide are now prospecting ice-classed LNG tankers to ship Barents- and Yamal Arctic gas to the markets in Asia, as previously reported by BarentsObserver.
Read more: Gas from Northern Norway through the Northern Sea Route
