By Chieko Tsuneoka
TOKYO--Japanese oil-and-gas industry executives on Thursday called on the government to support further investment in the industry, citing short supplies.
The Japanese government said it has secured additional power supplies for January and February but has a slim buffer if the winter is colder than usual. The Tokyo area's capacity margin is projected at above 3% in the first two months of 2022, the tightest projection in a decade, according to Japan's Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators.
At a meeting with government officials, Jun Nishizawa, group chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Corp.'s natural gas group, said the push for carbon neutrality would raise demand for natural gas during a transitional phase.
"We are under tremendous pressure for decarbonization. Therefore, continuous upstream investment in petroleum and gas and maintaining stable supply are becoming really challenging for the private sector," he said.
Mr. Nishizawa said the Japanese government should convey to the international community that natural gas has a role to play in the transition.
"We would like to ask the government to go one step further in support of the private sector in regard to securing resource rights, procurement and bearing the accompanying risks so that private businesses can continue to ensure stable supply," he said.
Toshiaki Kitamura, chairman of the Japan Petroleum Development Association, said global upstream investment in liquefied natural gas and petroleum fell by more than half in 2020 compared with six years earlier.
Due to the decarbonization trend, it is difficult to make such investments, but "we would like to work on the investments with the understanding and support of the Japanese government and the power and gas industries," he said.
Write to Chieko Tsuneoka at chieko.tsuneoka@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-21-21 0859ET
