Tokyo: Japan’s largest power generation company said on Thursday it would ramp up imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, as the government in Tokyo pushes for a trade deal with Washington.
Jera said it had signed supply deals from four US gas projects in Texas and Louisiana under new 20-year contracts.
The agreements “advance Jera’s long-term strategy to build a diversified and resilient LNG procurement portfolio in support of stable, secure energy for Japan and Asia”, it said.
US President Donald Trump wants to expand his country’s fuel production and exports, having pledged to “drill, baby, drill” for oil and gas during the election campaign.
The deal comes as Japanese officials are locked in discussions with their US counterparts to dial down Trump’s “Liberation Day” trade tariffs, with fuel and agriculture imports said to be one bargaining chip for Tokyo.
Jera said its new agreements will allow it to procure up to 5.5 million extra tonnes of LNG per year from the United States. It currently imports 3.5-4 million tonnes.
The US Department of the Interior hailed the agreements as “yet another major milestone for President Trump’s commitment to increase investment in the US and unleash American dominance”.
“This commitment… will bring in almost a quarter trillion dollars to our nation’s economy and support over 50,000 American jobs for our country’s LNG industry,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement.
Jera currently produces about 30 percent of Japan’s electricity, according to its website.
Resource-poor Japan — the world’s fifth largest single-country emitter of carbon dioxide — last year imported a total of 65.9 million tonnes of LNG.
As of 2023, LNG imports from Australia accounted for 41.6 percent of all Japanese LNG imports, followed by Malaysia at 15.6 percent, Russia’s 9.3 percent, and the United States’ 8.4 percent, according to the trade ministry.
In February, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba promised Trump that yearly Japanese investment would increase to $1 trillion.
