Japan Reluctant to Buy Russian LNG Due to Sanctions

Tokyo Gas , one of Japan's largest retail gas firms, is not in a hurry to make any new commitments to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia due to sanctions, Shigeru Muraki, the company's vice chairman of the board, told reporters.

Japan is the biggest LNG importer in the world, and some 10 percent of its imports come from Russia. Japan accounted for almost 82 percent of total LNG sales from Russia's Sakhalin-2 LNG plant last year, which produced 10.8 million tonnes, Censor.NET reports citing Reuters.

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Russia plans to add two more LNG plants in the far east of the country towards the end of the decade: Gazprom's Vladivostok LNG and Rosneft's and ExxonMobil's plant on Sakhalin. It also plans to expand Sakhalin-2.

Asked whether Tokyo Gas - which buys Sakhalin-2 LNG - plans to buy LNG from any new Russian LNG plant, Muraki said: "At this moment, (because) of the sensitivity of the sanctions, probably before some resolution comes out for the sanctions it is a bit difficult for us to make new commitments."

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On Wednesday, Japan imposed more sanctions on Russia because of Moscow's involvement in the Ukraine conflict, including banning certain Russian banks from issuing securities in Japan.

Gazprom Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev told Reuters on Tuesday the company plans to start marketing LNG from Vladivostok soon, aiming to launch the plant in 2018-2019 as planned.