Japan’s Jera, the joint company of Tepco and Chubu Electric and the largest importer of liquefied natural gas, said the first cargo from the lower 48 U.S. states arrived at the Joetsu LNG terminal.
The delivery to Chubu Electric’s terminal is the first import of U.S. LNG to Japan, Jera said in its statement on Friday.
Jera and Cheniere have entered into a sale and purchase agreement for the cargo, which was loaded onto the LNG vessel Oak Spirit at Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana, operated by Cheniere Energy on 7 December 2016.
The voyage to Japan via the Panama Canal took about one month, Jera said.
The company believes the purchase of US LNG will contribute to a stable energy supply in Japan through the diversification of procurement regions and LNG price indices.
Going forward, Jera intends to establish an LNG procurement portfolio that can flexibly respond to changes in the business environment by increasing its procurement ratio of LNG which is free from destination restrictions, through projects such as the Freeport LNG project in U.S.