LOC12:45
09:45 GMT
TOKYO, Feb 19 (KUNA) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to ask US
President Barack Obama to permit shale gas exports to Japan when they will
meet in Washington on Friday for a bilateral summit, public broadcaster NHK
reported Tuesday.
With most of Japan's nuclear power plants halted and the nation
increasingly dependent on thermal power, Abe is eager to import US shale gas
as a new, cheaper energy source, the report said. But the US limits the export
of shale gas to free-trade partners to avoid raising domestic prices. Non
free-trade partners must have their export plan screened by the US government
case-by-case.
Japan is the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer by
volume. The country's utilities have boosted imports of LNG for thermal power
generation following the radiation accident in March 2011 at the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant. Currently, only two of the nation's 50 workable
nuclear reactors are online in the wake of the Fukushima crisis.
On Friday, Economy and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the
government plans to provide a guarantee of JPY 1 trillion (USD 10.8 billion)
in loans for projects to procuring shale gas and other lower-cost energy
sources. (end)
mk.asa
KUNA 191245 Feb 13NNNN