Japan Petroleum Exploration Company plans LNG import terminal
Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (Japex) plans to build a liquefied natural gas import terminal at Soma port, north of Tokyo, and a pipeline to connect to its existing network to meet higher demand for the fuel.
Japex has started a feasibility study on building the terminal, which would be its first one on the Pacific Ocean coast and would aim to start operations in 2018, Reuters quoted a company spokesman as saying.
The cost of the project and other details, including the size of the LNG tank, had not yet been finalised, according the news agency.
Japan is the world's biggest LNG buyer and purchases have been boosted after a shift away from nuclear power following last year's Fukushima disaster.