But risks such as production cuts linger. LNG development in the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia, participated by major Japanese trader Mitsui & Co., has been stalled due to the fallout of the sanctions.
For the Sakhalin-2 project, the deadline for renewing the current long-term contract will come in 2026 at the earliest, with participating companies seen having to make a difficult decision on whether to keep their investments in or pull out of the project.
At a bilateral summit in Washington on Feb. 7, Japan agreed with the United States to expand imports of U.S. LNG. However, Europe, which has been dependent on Russian LNG, is also switching to imports from the United States, a development that leaves Japan with fewer options, pundits said.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
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