Japan, India Agree to Study LNG Pricing

Japan and India have signed a joint statement to study LNG pricing in the Asia Pacific region.

M.Veerappa Moily, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India and Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan signed the agreement in Tokyo on Monday.

In the bilateral meeting that preceded the signing ceremony, both ministers agreed that the joint statement was an important step towards working on rationalizing of LNG prices in Asia Pacific.

The two nations, as major LNG consuming countries in Asia, will work together towards the development of a market environment that would enable effective, stable and globally competitive LNG procurement, India’s oil ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that forming a transparent and globally competitive LNG price in the Asia Pacific market serves the common interests of Japan and India. 

For both LNG producers and consumers, the LNG price should be at mutually acceptable level, considering the sustainability of the LNG market, the oil ministry said. 

Procuring LNG from more diversified suppliers and/or regions will lead to the increase of market connectivity and price convergence among regions, which should result in more competitive pricing of LNG. 

In order to further share the analysis and best practices from multiple initiatives and studies on LNG markets today, Japan and India support the launch of a Multilateral Joint Study Group on LNG, including energy research institutes in LNG consuming countries.