Editor’s Note: This column is part of a regular series by industry veteran Brad Hitch for NGI’s LNG Insight dedicated to addressing the complexities of the global natural gas market.

Weak prices for spot LNG and European natural gas, coupled with high levels of floating inventory, have triggered discussion about something that was unthinkable only a year ago – the prospect of U.S. cargo cancellations.

Much of the cancellation discussion will tend towards comment on European gas storage levels and Chinese industrial demand while overlooking one of the key components to summer balances – Japanese demand.  

In this column we will continue with our series examining different aspects of the global gas market by considering Japanese demand from two angles. The first is to...