Japan's industry minister will visit the U.S. next week and ask the Obama administration for permission to receive exports of natural gas.
Japan
's
industry minister will visit the
U.S.
next
week and ask the Obama administration for permission to receive exports of
natural gas.
Toshimitsu Motegi will stay in
Washington
on
Thursday and Friday, and then fly to
Pittsburgh
to
visit a nearby shale gas production site, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry said in a statement.
During his stay in
Washington
, Mr.
Motegi will talk about energy issues with his counterparts, the statement said.
Details of the planned meetings and site tour were not disclosed.
Because
Japan
doesn't have a free trade agreement with the
U.S.
it
needs to obtain approval from the Department of Energy to receive LNG exports.
Japan
's
demand for liquefied natural gas has risen sharply in the aftermath of the
Fukushima
accident in March 2011, as utilities kept nuclear reactors offline.
In the last financial year ended in March, Japan imported 4.4% more LNG but
paid 15% more, after marking a 18% volume rise and a 52% price growth in the
previous year, government data show.
Eight of nine power utilities that have nuclear power plants have been running
in the red because of the high fuel prices. The government has been trying to
find new LNG sources with an eye on
North America
and
Russia
.
Before going to the
U.S.
, Mr.
Motegi plans to visit
Columbia
and
Brazil
.
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