TEPCO Looking at North American Shale Gas

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), is looking to buy North American shale gas from 2016 as it looks to lower fuel costs, Reuters said citing a report in Japanese business daily the Nikkei.

Tepco expects the price of this gas to be half of what it pays for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at present.

Utilities in Japan have been using more LNG as they shift away from nuclear power after the last year's earthquake and tsunami.

Tepco is expected to present its ideas on Monday to a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) panel, which screens power-rate increase proposals, the report said.

Japan would need U.S. Department of Energy authorization for Tepco to import shale gas, in the absence of a free trade agreement, Reuters said quoting the Nikkei report.