Thread by @SStapczynski

Qatar is upset that Japan isn’t renewing its LNG contracts
🇶🇦💥🇯🇵

🥊 “You’ll get no sympathy from us the next time you need LNG,” a Qatar official said to Japan in Dec
🥊 Jera let a giant 25-year contract with Qatar lapse last year

Great Nikkei report

nikkei.com/article/DGXZQO…

Qatar became the world’s top LNG supplier thanks largely to Japan

The first Qatar shipment to Japan was delivered to Chubu Electric (one of the owners of Jera) in 1997

But now Japan wants to diversify supply, and requires flexible contracts. That means lower volumes from Qatar

When the Fukushima nuclear plant suffered a meltdown in 2011, Qatar sent more LNG to Japan to make sure it had enough fuel to keep the lights on

Qatar may not be so willing to help next time

“I don’t even want to go to Tokyo,” where Jera’s HQ is located, said the Qatar official

Japan’s government isn’t terribly thrilled with how Jera is treating Qatar

“It is not the responsibility of companies to handle the relationship between the two nations, but couldn’t they have ended this more clearly?,” lamented a Japanese government official at METI

(Again, hats off to the reporters at the Nikkei. It’s a really insightful article with details from top officials. #jealous)

Japan is targeting significantly lower LNG consumption by 2030 as it restarts nuclear plants and boosts renewables

For Japan’s utilities, it makes sense to curb contracted supply, since they don’t want a glut down the road. Other LNG suppliers may also see contracts lapse

https://twitter.com/sstapczynski/status/1417729427312574468

The governments of Japan and Qatar started the popular Producer-Consumer LNG conference 10 years ago to help boost cooperation in the industry

I wonder if this year’s will be awkward (if it happens at all)

lng-conference.org/english/