Economy Minister Koichi Hagiuda said earlier in the day that Tokyo had decided to answer the US and EU calls for extra LNG shipments and would send surplus cargoes to Europe as soon as it was clear that uninterrupted supply to Japan would be maintained.
"Japan's contribution is no more than a friendly gesture to its ally the United States which has been trying to organize LNG supplies to the EU in case Russian gas supplies are halted in the event of the Ukraine crisis escalating into an armed conflict," Salameh said.
The pundit estimated that Japan could only spare a fraction of the LNG it imported from Australia, Malaysia, Qatar and Russia, making reexport of Russian gas to Europe a possibility.
In comparison, all LNG exports from the US, Qatar and Australia combined can hardly offset the almost 200 billion cubic meters per year pumped by Russia to the EU, on top of 15-16 million tons of LNG a year.
"Most of their LNG exports are contracted for in the Asia-Pacific region where demand is very strong and prices are higher and where shortages are starting to emerge," Salameh added.
The expert argued that only Russia could satisfy the EU's demand for gas. Europe has a limited LNG storage capacity, making import increases "useless" if they are intended to replace Russia’s nearly 40% share of the European gas market.