Inpex first announced its plan to build two 180,000-kiloliter LNG storage tanks at a port in Joetsu, Niigata prefecture, in August 2007. A company executive said at the time the investment would not exceed ¥100 billion. Inpex now aims to begin operations at the new LNG terminal in 2014, compared with initial plans for the end of 2013. Inpex supplies domestically produced natural gas to its clients via a pipeline, and the terminal would help boost supply capacity.

Japan is the world’s top consumer of LNG — natural gas cooled to liquid form for transport on tankers, and demand for the environment-friendly fuel is growing rapidly at a time of high crude oil prices. (Reuters)