The Japanese utility likely bought the cargo for delivery in second half of November from Malaysia's Petronas, the sources added.

The utility started importing LNG late last year and has been buying LNG cargoes from Petronas, though its requirements have not been regular, one of the sources said.

Hokuriku did not immediately reply to an email requesting comment.

However, according to a presentation to investors in April, the company said it started up its first LNG-fired power generation unit — the Toyama Shinko thermal power station — in November 2018, which reduced its oil purchase.

The company's overall LNG consumption rose to 40,000 tonnes in 2018, compared with none in 2017, while its heavy oil consumption reduced by nearly one-third and its crude oil consumption halved from a year ago, according to the presentation.

It is also currently in talks to purchase LNG through term supply, one of the sources said, though details were not immediately clear.

Hokuriku Electric is among several Japanese utilities looking to buy more LNG from the spot market, where prices are hovering near multi-year lows and are at about half the average contract import price for buyers in Japan, the world's biggest importer of the super-chilled fuel.

Higher-than-usual temperatures in the country had also prompted some buying interest from Japanese buyers this month, including Tohoku Electric Power and JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc and Chubu Electric Power Co Inc, traders said.

(Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan; editing by Christian Schmollinger and Uttaresh.V)

By Jessica Jaganathan