Tokyo Electric Power Co. may cut purchases of liquefied natural gas by a record amount following a drop in electricity demand and the restart of nuclear reactors.
Imports may fall as low as 17 million metric tons for the year ending next March, said Takao Arai, head of Tepco's fuel department. That would be a 15 percent decline from 20.06 million tons a year earlier. The previous record was a 12 percent drop in the year to March 2005, spokesman Atsushi Sugiyama said.
Tepco is the world's second-biggest buyer of LNG.
"The reactors seem to be coming back on stream and the general downturn in domestic demand is quite significant," said Tony Regan, an independent oil consultant based in Singapore.
Demand for electricity fell for the 10th straight month in May as Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. cut jobs and production after the economy sank into its deepest postwar recession. Imports of LNG by Japan, the biggest buyer of the fuel by country, fell 7.9 percent to 5.27 million tons in April.
Utilities paid 13 percent less in April for LNG when prices declined in line with crude oil.