Osaka Gas Expects Little Impact on LNG Balance from Freeport Outage

Japan's Osaka Gas doesn’t expect any significantly impact on its LNG supply and demand balance from the partial shutdown of US Freeport LNG's facilities according to Reuters.

• Freeport’s Train 3 has resumed production after being offline for 1.5 months. Train 1 and Train 2 are currently undergoing maintenance for inspection and possible repairs, scheduled to be completed by the beginning of May.
• "Our procurement volume from Freeport may fall slightly due to the issue, but we remain in a comfortable position in terms of LNG procurement, thanks to the mild winter conditions," President Masataka Fujiwara said on Wednesday.
• Mild winter had left most of Japan's buyers with an excess of fuel, he said.
• Freeport LNG supplies Osaka Gas with 2.32m metric tons of LNG each year.
• Osaka Gas expect natural gas to play a crucial role during the energy transition. He hopes Japan emphasise the importance of a stable energy policy at the Japan-U.S. summit in April. The comments follow on from the US pause in issuing new LNG export permits earlier this year.