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Osamu Tsukimori News

20 Nov 2018

First LPG Shipped from Ichthys Project

Japan's Inpex Corp said it had sent the first liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shipment from its giant Ichthys project in Australia.The LPG vessel Hellas Gladiator departed the onshore liquefaction plant at the Ichthys LNG Terminal in Darwin, the company said in a statement late on Friday. Ship tracking data showed the vessel was due to arrive at Yantai in China around Nov. 26.The project shipped its first condensate on Oct. 1 and its first LNG in late October.(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford)

01 Nov 2018

No Waiver for Japan on Iran Sanctions

File Image / AdobeStock / © Jose Gill

Japan said on Thursday it had not yet been granted a waiver from a U.S. plan to reimpose sanctions aimed at cutting Iran out of international markets, while the top two customers for Iranian oil, China and India, were awaiting word on possible exemptions.The United States has said it is considering waivers on sanctions for countries that are reducing their imports of Iranian oil. The renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran are set to come into effect on Nov. 4."Japan-U.S. talks have been conducted four times so far on U.S.

22 Oct 2018

Japan Spent $4 Bln to Back Global LNG Infrastructure Push

© stefanwelder / Adobe Stock

The Japanese government along with private companies have spent $4 billion in the past year on liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, mainly in Asia and across the supply chain, to help spur demand for the fuel, the country's trade minister said on Monday.Hiroshige Seko, speaking at the annual LNG Producer-Consumer Conference in Nagoya, Japan, said Japan offered training to 200 people from 15 countries to develop a workforce to work in the LNG supply chain.Seko announced a year…

01 Oct 2018

How Refiners Plan to Grapple With Fuel Oil Output After 2020

© christian42 / Adobe Stock

High-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO), essentially the leftovers of an oil refiner's output, will still flow from refineries around the world even after new rules start up in 2020 curtailing its use in the global shipping fleet, a Reuters survey showed.Sixty percent of the 33 refineries contacted by Reuters in a global survey will still produce HSFO in 2020 although the supply will tighten as 70 percent of these refiners plan to reduce their output.Starting that year, ships will have to use marine fuel…

09 Aug 2018

Japan Spot LNG Contract Price Hits 5-month High

© vladsv / Adobe Stock

The average contract price for spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes for shipment to Japan last month hit a five-month high of $10.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), Japan's trade ministry data showed on Thursday.Asian spot LNG prices held around $10 last month as a heatwave gripped Japan and high temperatures swept across South Korea and parts of China, boosting cooling demand.The average price of spot LNG cargoes that arrived in Japan last month was $10.30 per mmBtu.METI surveys spot LNG cargoes bought by Japanese utilities and other importers…

19 Jul 2018

Japan's LNG Imports Slide to Lowest Since May 2016

© doraneko777 / Adobe Stock

Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in June fell to the lowest in more than two years as the country's utilities switched on more nuclear reactors that had been shut in the wake of the Fukushima atomic disaster in 2011.Japan has six reactors operating and three others have passed safety inspections and could be operating by October, allowing utilities to switch away from LNG. Spot prices for the fuel rose to three-and-a-half-year high in June.Japan, the world's biggest importer of LNG…

06 Jul 2018

Japan's First LNG Bunkering Vessel to Launch in 2020

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Chubu Electric Power, Toyota Tsusho, and Nippon Yusen KK said on Friday that their joint venture has placed an order for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel with Kawasaki Heavy Industries.   The vessel, which is scheduled to be delivered around September-December 2020, will be the first LNG bunkering vessel to be operated in Japan, the companies said in a statement.   The companies plan to start supplying LNG to vessels as fuel in the Chubu region in central Japan.   LNG is seen as an alternative to bunker fuel oil for shipping lines facing a 2020 deadline to meet new international standards on sulphur emissions.   Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori

21 May 2018

Tokyo Gas Takes First LNG Cargo from Cove Point

Japan received its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on Monday from Dominion Energy Inc's newly completed Cove Point export plant, the beginning of a jump in imports from the United States by the world's biggest buyer of the fuel.The docking of the tanker LNG Sakura at Tokyo Gas Co's Negishi terminal near Tokyo is another marker of shifting global energy flows as the United States ramps up exports of gas and oil from shale formations.The cargo is the first of 2.2 million tonnes of LNG a year Japanese companies are purchasing under long-term contracts from Cove Point in Maryland. A ramp-up of purchases now by Japan may draw…

21 May 2018

US Exports to China to Rise amid Trade Talks, but Volumes are Capped

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China has pledged to buy more U.S. goods to reduce America's huge trade deficit and help avoid exacerbating a trade war between the world's two biggest economies, with energy and commodities high on Washington's list of products for sale.The U.S. trade war with China is "on hold" after the governments agreed to drop tariff threats and work on a wider agreement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday. Washington is especially keen to sell more of the United States'…

10 May 2018

Kawasaki Kisen, 3 Others Set up LNG Bunkering Ventures

© Kpics / Adobe Stock

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Chubu Electric Power, Toyota Tsusho, and Nippon Yusen KK said on Thursday they have agreed to launch a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering business in Japan and have set up two joint ventures.The companies plan to start supplying marine traffic in the Chubu region in central Japan, they said in a statement.LNG has been promoted as an alternative to bunker fuel oil for shipping lines facing a 2020 deadline to meet new international standards on sulfur emissions.(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; editing by Richard Pullin)

09 May 2018

Buyers Seek US Waivers to Buy Iranian Oil amid New Sanctions

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South Korea said on Wednesday it would seek U.S. exemptions to buy Iranian oil, a path many big oil consumers are likely to follow in the wake of new U.S. sanctions on Tehran, which will tighten world oil markets and push up prices.Iran is the third-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a key supplier, especially to refiners in Asia.The United States plans to impose new unilateral sanctions after abandoning an agreement reached in late 2015 which limited Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for removing joint U.S.-Europe sanctions…

20 Apr 2018

Panama Canal LNG Volume Soars as Global Demand Grows

On April 17, the Panama Canal transited three LNG vessels – Clean Ocean, Gaslog Gibraltar and Gaslog Hong Kong – in one day, marking a first for the waterway. (Photo: Panama Canal Authority)

The Panama Canal may carry five times as much liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2020 as it did last year as production of the fuel expands in the United States and Asian import demand rises, the head of the canal's governing agency told Reuters.LNG volumes traversing the Canal could hit 30 million tonnes a year before the end of 2020, said Jorge Quijano, who leads the Panama Canal Authority, up from 6 million tonnes last year.Demand for LNG has risen significantly in the last three years as the increase of supply…

22 Feb 2018

Oil from Sunken Tanker Sanchi Reached Japan's Shores

(Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

Oil that reached islands in southern Japan earlier this month is highly likely to have come from the sunken Iranian tanker Sanchi, the Japan Coast Guard said on Thursday. Samples of oily matter that washed up on Feb. 8 on the shores of the Okinoerabu and Yoron islands in the Amami chain were found to be linked to the Sanchi's sinking, the Coast Guard said. The Sanchi sank on Jan. 14 after colliding with a freighter on Jan. 6 in the world's worst oil tanker disaster in decades.

02 Feb 2018

Oil From Sunken Iranian Tanker May Have Reached Japan

Clumps of oil have washed up on the shores of southern Japan and there are fears they may be leaking from an Iranian crude tanker than sank in the world's worst such disaster in decades, the Japanese Coast Guard said on Friday. Black clumps have reached the shores of the island of Amami-Oshima, a coast guard official told Reuters by phone. Authorities are checking to see if it is from the Sanchi (IMO:9356608) tanker that sank in the East China Sea last month, after being alerted to its presence by the public. The government had set up a special unit within Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's office to coordinate Japan's response to the latest development, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

01 Jun 2017

LNG Sellers, Asian Buyers Spar Over Contract Terms

A spat brewing between Qatar, the world's No.1 producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and its biggest customers in Japan underscores rising tensions between buyers and sellers of the super-chilled fuel as a supply glut unbalances the market. Importers of LNG having been pushing for greater benefits amid the surplus, signing new, cheaper contracts that give them more flexible terms, while exporters try to preserve long-term supply deals written in their favour during tighter markets. Worried some buyers are becoming too bold in their push for an advantage, Qatar Petroleum warned customers in Japan - by far the biggest LNG importer - not to press too hard in long-term supply talks, because it could result in Japanese companies being squeezed out of Qatari gas projects.

18 May 2017

US Crude Sails to Asia as OPEC Weighs More Cuts

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Oil tankers carrying around 10 million barrels of U.S. crude are en route to Asia, according to shipping data and trade sources, as U.S. producers take advantage of favorable prices to ship to the region while OPEC ponders further supply cuts next week. At least eight tankers are in transit, sources said and the shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon showed, with one of them carrying the first ever cargo of Southern Green Canyon crude purchased by Japanese refiner Cosmo Energy. Another contains the first Alaskan North Slope cargo to arrive in Asia in eight months.

21 Apr 2017

Iran's Crude Exports Dip to 14-month low

Iran's crude exports to hit 14-month low; May exports to total 1.66 mln bpd in May. Iran's crude oil exports are set to hit a 14-month low in May, a person with knowledge of the Middle Eastern country's tanker loading schedule said, suggesting the country is struggling to raise exports after clearing out stocks stored on tankers. Part of the drop may also be attributable to a decline in demand, as loadings bound for India are set to slump to a one-year low after a dispute over the award of a contract for a gas field and Japan's orders fall by more than half from April. Iran is also putting about 3 million barrels back into storage in May…

06 Jan 2017

JERA Imports Japan's First Liquefied Shale Gas Cargo from U.S.

Japan's JERA Co said on Friday it imported the country's first liquefied shale gas cargo from the United States as part of efforts to diversify its supply. This also marks Japan's first import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced in the contiguous United States. Japan previously had imported U.S. LNG only from Alaska. JERA, a fuel joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, said the vessel Oak Spirit, which passed through the Panama Canal, arrived at Chubu Electric's Joetsu LNG terminal facing the Sea of Japan on Friday. JERA is the world's biggest importer of LNG. The Tokyo-based firm bought the LNG from Cheniere Marketing International LLP. The 70,000-tonne cargo was produced at the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Louisiana and was loaded on Dec.

27 Dec 2016

Oil up 1.7%, Adds to Year's Gains Ahead of OPEC Cuts

Oil jumped 1.7 percent Tuesday, continuing its year-end rally with support from expectations of tighter supply once the first output cut deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in 15 years takes effect on Sunday. U.S. crude prices have surged 25 percent since mid-November, helped by expectations for OPEC's supply cut and generally solid U.S. economic figures that have also bolstered equity prices. Trading was thin on Tuesday, with less than one-third of the usual volume in futures contracts in West Texas Intermediate crude oil. With oil near $54 a barrel, U.S. crude futures are not far from the year's high of $54.51 high reached on December 12. "Some of the doubts (in OPEC) people are showing are going to have to be put to rest," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

08 Dec 2016

JERA Buys First-ever U.S. LNG Cargo

Japan's JERA Co, the world's biggest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), on Thursday said it made its first-ever purchase of LNG from the lower 48 U.S. states, as part of its goal to diversify supplies. JERA, a fuel joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, said it bought the LNG from Cheniere Marketing International LLP, but did not give pricing details. Loading of shale gas produced at the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Louisiana onto LNG vessel Oak Spirit was completed on Wednesday, it added. Industry sources said this is likely to be Japan's first import of LNG from the project. The vessel, which will pass through the Panama Canal, will arrive at Chubu Electric's Joetsu LNG terminal in early January, a JERA spokesman said.

16 Nov 2016

Japan Starts Probe of LNG Shipping Restrictions

Japan's Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has ordered the country's liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyers to provide details on contract requirements that prevent them from reselling the fuel to third parties, according to a source with direct knowledge of the inquiry. The move suggests the powerful anti-monopoly regulator has launched a formal investigation into whether the so-called destination clauses limit competition and could lead to hundreds of billions of dollars LNG contracts being renegotiated. Japan, the world's biggest LNG buyer, and other Asian buyers have complained that the long-established practice of adding the clauses to LNG contracts places unfair restrictions on trading the fuel when it would make more economic sense to sell to other markets.

27 Oct 2016

Iran Crude Oil Exports to Hit 4-month Low

Iran's crude oil exports are set to decline 5 percent in November to a four-month low, a source with knowledge of its preliminary tanker schedule said, as low seasonal demand in Europe takes the edge off its post-sanctions export bonanza. Iran's oil exports typically hit a low around October or November each year, reflecting peak refinery maintenance seasons in Europe and in Asia. Next month, however, shipments to Asia look to be steady to higher as China's purchases rebound from an October dip to its lowest Iran imports for the year so far. Overall, OPEC's third-largest producer has been regaining market share at a faster pace than analysts had projected since sanctions were lifted in January…

14 Jul 2016

Japan Regulator Investigating LNG Shipping Restrictions

File photo: MOL

Japan's anti-monopoly regulator is investigating whether clauses in liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts preventing buyers from selling the fuel to third parties hurts competition, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing unidentified sources. The investigation by the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) is in the early stages and may be completed by the end of year, the report said. A spokesman for the JFTC would not comment on the issue when contacted by Reuters, including whether any probe is under way.