Photo/Illutration A ship transporting liquified natural gas from the Sakhalin-2 project is seen in Sakhalin Oblast in the Far East region of Russia in 2009. (Pool)

Japanese utilities JERA and Tohoku Electric Power Co, buyers of liquefied natural gas from Russia’s Sakhalin-2, can secure alternative supplies if flows are interrupted, executives said, amid U.S. pressure to end energy imports from Russia.

The U.S. this month urged Japan, along with other Russian energy buyers, to stop imports, as it pushes the Kremlin towards ending the war in Ukraine. Japan’s long-term contracts with Sakhalin-2 cover about 9% of its LNG imports.

JERA gets about 2 million tons of LNG per year from the project under two contracts ending in 2026 and 2029. JERA is also a major LNG trader, handling a total of 30 million tons to 35 million tons of LNG annually both for domestic use and to re-sell elsewhere.

Taking into consideration JERA’s imports from Sakhalin and the company’s overall LNG handling volumes, including an option to tap the spot market, “there is a good chance that we will be able to do something” in case Sakhalin supplies need to be replaced, Naohiro Maekawa, an executive officer with JERA, told a briefing on Friday.

He added, though, that it was “really important to maintain all existing long-term contracts, not just Sakhalin.”

Tohoku Electric Power, which gets around a tenth of its LNG from Sakhalin, is working to diversify supplies to mitigate a risk of a sudden import interruption, senior executive Takayoshi Enomoto said on Thursday.

Tohoku’s contract with the project expires in 2030. The company is considering an eventual halt in Russia purchases, another senior official said in February, and Tohoku may increase U.S. LNG purchases. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

Told U.S. President Donald Trump during their meeting in Tokyo this week that banning Russian LNG imports would be difficult, two Japanese government officials said.

Halting Sakhalin-2 supplies would be costly and trigger higher electricity bills, Japan’s industry minister said, at a time when Takaichi is trying to cut consumer prices after the cost of living eroded support for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

To guard against unexpected supply shocks, Japan is also buying LNG for emergency needs under a scheme it may expand for greater energy security.

SUPPORT FOR ALASKA LNG STILL UNCERTAIN

While committing to various U.S. LNG sources and upstream projects, Japanese buyers remain wary of hard deals with the maiden $44-billion Alaska LNG project Trump favors, with JERA and Tokyo Gas announcing only preliminary offtakes.

JERA’s Maekawa said that his company continued to gather information on Alaska’s feasibility and stability of supply.

“It is quite unclear what the procurement cost will be ... (but) it is possible that there will be a positive impact in terms of energy security and supply diversification,” said Tohoku’s Enomoto.

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