Japan's Oil, LNG Imports Fall on Cool Summer, Prices

By Shigeru Sato and Yuji Okada

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's crude oil and natural gas imports declined in August as cooler summer temperatures cut use by utilities and record gasoline prices slashed motorist demand.

Japan, the third-biggest oil consumer, imported 20.34 million kiloliters, or about 4.13 million barrels a day, of crude last month, down 3.3 percent from a year earlier, a finance ministry report released in Tokyo today shows. Imports of liquefied natural gas fell 2.1 percent to 5.71 million metric tons.

Lower temperatures in Tokyo and other major cities contributed to a drop of as much as 5.4 percent in the 10 regional utilities' electricity output, slashing crude and fuel oil requirements by 14 percent from a year earlier, according to the Federation of Electric Power Companies.

The oil import bill climbed 64 percent to 1.87 trillion yen ($17.6 billion), as crude oil futures in New York stayed above $110 a barrel in August. Japan's coal imports last month increased 2.8 percent to 17.1 million tons.

Increased crude prices pushed up the cost of gasoline at the pump to record levels, prompting motorists to pare fuel purchases last month, traditionally a peak driving period.

Average Temperatures

The average temperature in the Otemachi financial district in central Tokyo was 26.8 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees lower than the average in August last year, according to the meteorological agency.

Japan's 10 regional utilities led by Tokyo Electric Power Co. burned a total of 1.82 million kiloliters of crude and fuel oil, down 14 percent from a year earlier, data from the power federation show.

LNG is natural gas that has been chilled to liquid form, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original volume at minus 161 degrees Celsius (minus 259 Fahrenheit), for transportation by ship to destinations not connected by pipeline. On arrival, it's turned back into gas for distribution to power plants, factories and households.

To contact the reporters on this story: Shigeru Sato in Tokyo at ssato10@bloomberg.net; Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net.