The Great East Japan Earthquake has not only thrown into sharp relief the issue of attaining energy security for Japan, which has limited natural resources, but also spurred tremendous debate on the future of energy and its role in society. Expectations are rising for natural gas and renewable energies as replacements for nuclear power, which has been used to produce a relatively large portion of Japan’s electricity. Natural gas, in particular, has a smaller environmental impact than other fossil fuels, and there are abundant reserves, so demand for natural gas as an efficient energy source is forecast to rise.

The earthquake has prompted the INPEX Group to reconfirm its role as an energy company. We will continue to make the most of our abilities and experience as an oil and natural gas development company, while further reinforcing our system for providing a stable supply of energy.

The large scale Ichthys (Australia) and Abadi (Indonesia) LNG projects we are developing as an operator will have a joint production volume equivalent to slightly more than 15% of the total LNG imported by Japan. The INPEX Group will work together to ensure that these two projects begin production as scheduled. Responding to society’s expectations of us as a supplier of stable energy, we will also construct an integrated gas supply chain in Japan that covers from LNG receiving terminals to a wide range of natural gas transport pipelines.