Explained: Why Japan's power sector depends so much on LNG

Resource-poor Japan depends overwhelmingly on fossil-fuel imports to meet its energy needs, complicating calls for the nation to boycott Russia's oil and LNG after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine

Resource-poor Japan depends overwhelmingly on fossil-fuel imports to meet its energy needs, complicating calls for the nation to boycott Russia's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Here's what's at stake:
 

WHAT'S IN JAPAN'S ENERGY MIX, AND WHY IS LNG SO IMPORTANT?
Japan gets most of its primary energy needs from crude oil, more than 90% of which comes from the Middle East, based on government data. LNG comprises about 24% of the total energy mix.
 

But LNG takes up a bigger piece of the pie when it comes to electricity production, at 36%. That dependence