Japanese imports of Russian LNG jump 17%

Imports of thermal coal and crude oil also rise significantly.

Japan's LNG imports o from Russia rose 17% to 8.3 million metric tons 2012 while imports of Russian crude oil increased 10% to 10.02 million kiloliters, or about 172,000 bpd. Japan also imported 8.12 million tons of thermal coal from Russia, up 8.1% from 2011.

Japan increasing reliance on Russia for its fossil fuel imports is due to its restricting its use of nuclear power following the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011. A shift to fossil fuels, however, has led to a massive rise in the money Japan pays for its imports and has brought about increases in pollution levels.

Russia has been targeted by Japan as a key energy supplier because of its rich hydrocarbon reserves in East Siberia.