MONTHLY ANALYSIS:
JULY 2008
Japan’s energy policy: Committed to Kyoto and to mitigating climate change
After many years as the world’s leading LNG importer, Japan may now be facing a future in which both energy use and LNG imports will decline. But Japan’s leading role in world energy markets may just be changing, not declining, as it takes a leading role in the provision of alternative energy. In its latest review of Japan’s energy policy* the IEA notes that Japan is showing a real commitment, not unsurprisingly, to the aims of the Kyoto treaty. This commitment is reflected widely in its energy policy and nowhere more so than in its leadership of the G8. Japan currently has the presidency of the G8 and is using its position to promote energy efficiency and measures to mitigate climate change. This commitment has a significant impact on internal energy policy, and hence demand, but will also have an impact on energy consumers worldwide, as efficiency developments in electronics, motor vehicles and alternative energy sources move from development to implementation . . . read more
Geography, the environment, and water shape the future for Australian energy
Geography is king in Australia, a continent with the land mass of the United States and a population smaller than the number of people living within London’s M25 orbital motorway. The country’s vast distances heavily influence energy supply, with the energy load centres split three ways: a tiny market in the Northern Territory, an area bigger than India; a small market in the bottom corner of Western Australia, a state also bigger than India; and the sprawling coastal and regional urban areas of the south-eastern continent, running the distance from Moscow to Lisbon, home to 80% of the population. Last month we looked at the impact gas is having on the Australian energy mix (“Gas shines new light on Australian energy outlook”, Gas Matters, June). In the second of two articles on the Australian energy scene we now look in more detail at the patterns of present and possible future gas demand in Australia . . . Read More
MONTHLY NEWS:
From Russia, but with how much love? . . . read more
Deja vu - The Varanus Island incident brings back memories of Longford
E.ON Ruhrgas accepts competition in Germany
German gas market to shift from hourly to daily balancing in October 2008
EU gas package goes to MEPS with compromise over unbundling likely
Is there a Central European solution to ownership unbundling?
Gazprom concentrates on internal eastern developments
JBIC provides $3 billion finance for LNG projects aimed at Japan
HEART OF THE MATTER
BOOK REVIEWS
EUROPEAN CARBON MARKET
TRADED MARKETS – NORTH-WEST EUROPE
GB MARKET TRENDS
EUROPEAN BORDER PRICES
JAPANESE AND KOREAN LNG PRICES