Asia Pacific: Storage

Japan and South Korea will need to build storage volumes after a summer of low stocks.

At the peak of summer both Japan and South Korea had relatively low levels of gas in storage. At the start of July, South Korea’s gas storage levels were down by 10% year on year, at 2.8 bcm, which is 25% lower than the average of the past three years. Japan’s gas stocks were around 4.8 bcm at the start of July, leaving them down by around 5% year on year and 5% below the average of the past three years. The lower levels of summer gas storage will require both countries to obtain more gas for storage before winter than last year. Although this will provide some support to LNG demand, it is not expected to be sufficient to reverse the trend for declining LNG imports in either country.