Japan paid an average $8.84 for LNG last year; lowest since 2009

(Reuters; June 29) - Japan's average price for imported liquefied natural gas fell to its lowest since September 2009, dragged down by weak oil markets, offering relief to the countries' utilities that had been burning record amounts of the fuel after the Fukushima 2011 nuclear plant disaster. LNG import prices averaged $8.84 per million Btu in May, the lowest since $8.28 in September 2009, Reuters calculations based on government data showed June 29. The average includes long-term contracts and short-term deals.

Japan, which takes in about a third of global LNG volume, spent a record 7.78 trillion yen ($63.25 billion) purchasing a historically high 89 million metric tons of the fuel in the fiscal year that ended March 31. A flood of new supply coming on stream later this year in Australia and the U.S. is helping to cap the global price. Asian LNG spot prices for August delivery were $7.30 last week. The majority of LNG imports in Japan are long-term oil-linked contracts that respond to oil prices with a time lag of several months.