Japex's Soma Terminal Gets First LNG Cargo

The Japex-owned Soma LNG terminal at Soma Port in Fukushima prefecture received its first LNG cargo December 6, the company said the same day.

It was delivered on the tanker Puteri Intan Satu owned by Petronas. Unloading will start soon, Japex said: “We will be transferring LNG from the tanker to the LNG tank at the terminal over a period of one week.” 

The Soma LNG terminal is a large scale LNG terminal composed of a ground-type LNG storage tank with Japan’s largest class capacity of 230,000 kiloliters (approximately 100,000 metric tons), two berths for ocean-going and domestic vessels, LNG vaporization equipment, and loading facilities for tank trucks.

Commissioning of the terminal took effect from December 1, 2017, with the aim for full commencement of operation in March 2018.

Japan had 34 large-scale LNG import terminals at the end of 2016, according to the International LNG Importers Group (GIIGNL), more than any other country, not including smaller-scale regas terminals. It imported 83.34mn metric tons in 2016, according to the same source, making it the largest LNG import nation accounting for almost 32% of world trade.