On September 22nd, Consul-General Takaoka accompanied Congressman Al Green on a visit to the Freeport Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project. This project will make U.S. natural gases a global commodity, whose largest purchaser will be Japan.
The shale revolution in the United States changed the landscape of global energy trade. Subsequently, the U.S government gave permission to export natural gases to non-Free Trade agreement nations. This is expected to alleviate the burden of energy imports on countries like Japan, especially after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.
Congressman Green expressed his support and admiration of the project, and encouraged greater cooperation between the U.S and Japan in energy projects. Freeport LNG expects to start construction on the liquefaction project in 2014. |
