Senior Japanese officials have expressed concern the Albanese government is considering a domestic gas reserve, telling West Australian Premier Roger Cook during a trade visit that their country cannot be a long-term investment partner with Australia if LNG isn’t readily available.
For that is what they are. AFR.
…“What they said to us is that we can’t continue to be an investment partner in Australia, we can’t go along on the transition unless you make LNG available to us in order to make sure we have energy security.”
…Japan is a relatively minor buyer of LNG from Queensland, taking 6 per cent of the total 365 cargoes exported from Gladstone last year, and 9 per cent of the previous year’s gas exports, according to consultancy EnergyQuest.
…“They can’t get out of coal unless we provide the LNG so that they can undertake that transition,” he said.
Riiiight. So, Japanese energy security is threatened by the redirection of 22 LNG cargoes from QLD.
So much so that they will never invest again and walk away from climate change mitigation.
Do the WA Premier and the AFR know how preposterous these suggestions are?
- China takes two-thirds to three-quarters of QLD cargoes as it threatens Japanese security.
- Australia is now allowed the same energy security as Japan with its own gas?
- The massive global glut coming down the pipe won’t cure it?

- Japan couldn’t give up 22 cargoes of the 235 cargoes of Aussie LNG it resells to everybody else?

This is beneath the Japanese. It is not the stuff of a reliable ally, either.
It is hysteria and should be treated as such.