Lloyd’s List: Japanese Fuel Oil Imports Almost Triple After Quake

“The Japanese power generation industry’s combined consumption of residual fuel and crude oil has almost tripled since a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the country in March. A report released by global shipbroker Poten & Partners today, Thursday, showed that Japanese power plants burned in excess of 6m barrels of fuel oil and more than 5m barrels of crude in August. In February, before disaster struck, combined consumption of the two fuel sources was little higher than 4m barrels. . . . According to Poten & Partners, the subsequent pressure on LNG markets has lead to such a price rise that gas in now more expensive than fuel oil per unit of energy generated. LNG spot prices in the country have risen by 75% since January. Poten & Partners forecast this could push demand for fuel oil as high as 8.5m barrels a month.”