Japan’s record purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) show no sign of slowing as the country continues to try and fill the energy shortfall created when it took its nuclear plants offline three years ago.

With its lack of substantial domestic sources of fossil fuel, Japan is cripplingly dependent on imported oil, coal, and natural gas. Before the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan was the third largest nuclear generator in the world, behind the United States and France, with 54 reactors.

Those reactors were critical to cutting Japan’s fuel import bills, and accounted for 20 percent of the country’s electricity generation. But post-Fukushima, the sum total of Japan’s nuclear power plants were shuttered and imports of fossil fuels, particularly LNG, have skyrocketed.

via LNG-Dependent Japan Tries To Gain Leverage Over Pricing.