By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 7 -- The July shutdown of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant will strain Asian LNG and oil markets.
Tomoko Hosoe, senior consultant at Facts Global Energy, Honolulu, said Tokyo Electric will have to buy 1.3 million tonnes more LNG than it planned in its current fiscal year and 87,900 b/d more fuel oil and crude for direct burning because of the shutdown.
The plant has been idle since June 26 because of an earthquake (OGJ, Aug. 6, 2007, p. 76).
Tokyo Electric now expects to need 18.8 million tonnes of LNG in fiscal 2007, compared with actual consumption of 16.8 million tonnes in 2006. It will need 180,900 b/d of fuel oil and crude vs. 69,600 b/d last year.
In a report, Hosoe described how Tokyo Electric's increased fuel requirements will affect Asian markets.
"An additional 2-3 million tonnes of LNG, which need to be secured from the spot market in 2007-08 in a very tight LNG market, is a serious problem," she said.
Tokyo Electric's increased oil demand, she added, will have "a dramatic impact" on prices of low-sulfur heavy fuel oil, low-sulfur waxy residue, and low-sulfur crude.
The 8.2 Gw Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is expected to remain closed through at least next March and might require at least a further year to return to full operation.
