Japan JOGMEC buys 44,000 tonnes LPG for national reserves

TOKYO: State-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) on Monday bought liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) via a tender to store in its national reserves, a trade ministry official said on Monday.

JOGMEC was seeking 44,000 tonnes of propane, which is to be delivered to the stockpiling base in Namikata in Ehime prefecture by Aug. 10.

The ministry official did not identify the winning bidder.

Japan, which in April stored 952,000 tonnes of LPG at five national LPG stockpiling bases, plans to increase stockpiles to the full capacity of 1.5 million tonnes by the end of March 2018.

Japan's trade ministry last July aimed to buy 198,000 tonnes of LPG during the fiscal year that started on April 1 as part of goals to reach the full capacity.