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<br>
J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>
The 'JIN' J@pan Inc Newsletter<br>
A weekly opinion piece on social, economic and political trends in Japan.<br>
Issue No. 506 Thursday April 09, 2009, Tokyo<br>
<br>
An interesting article in the Economist this week shed light on one of<br>
those windows of opportunity that the credit crunch and ensuing<br>
economic downturn has provided for Japan. <br><br>Back in 2006, the government called for industry to shore up Japan’s <br>energy supply by increasing the ownership of foreign energy projects. <br>The government wanted the ownership to cover 40 percent of Japan’s <br>
supply. At that point only 15 percent was covered.<br>
<br>
But as China increased its demand and prices continued to soar, the<br>
Japanese players found themselves effectively shut out of the market.<br>
<br>But things are different now.<br>
<br>
Midway through 2008, energy became a buyers’ market again. After the<br>
Lehman’s collapse, of course, there weren’t a lot of companies in a<br>
position to do much buying. But with the yen remaining strong, and the<br>
price of crude oil plummeting, Japanese firms found themselves once<br>
again at an advantage.<br>
<br>
The Economist article said that in January, Nippon Oil bought rights<br>
to oilfields in Papua New Guinea. Meanwhile, the<br>
Japanese-government-backed Inpex, (the nation’s largest<br>
oil-development company), acquired rights to oil in South America and<br>
Australia.<br>
<br>
Also the Wall Street Journal published a report earlier in the week<br>
stating that a consortium led by Nippon Oil and Inpex was vying for<br>
Iraq’s Nassiriyah oilfield (Iraqi officials would neither confirm nor<br>
deny that the Japanese companies were making a bid, according to the<br>
report).<br>
<br>
On top of all this, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, visited Tokyo to<br>
sign energy deals.<br>
<br>
So there has certainly been some activity.<br>
<br>
But even with increased ownership, some say that this will still not<br>
ensure supply. In the Economist report, Tadashi Maeda of the Japan<br>
Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) says that a stake in<br>
revenue rather than supply is ensured. Ownership does however, help<br>
absorb the shock of price hikes and provides a buffer for the<br>
tightening of supply.<br>
<br>
Yet, some analysts have stated they believe that the Japanese<br>
companies are still missing their opportunity with, so far, only<br>
relatively small purchases being made. Some executives from the<br>
companies, meanwhile, have complained that government-backed Chinese<br>
companies are bidding far too high for projects and so are keeping<br>
potential Japanese buyers out.<br>
<br>
Back in Japan, shareholders are to be answered to and so any purchases<br>
that don’t prove viable in the short term for the private companies<br>
such as Mitsui or Mitsubishi mean that credit becomes harder to come<br>
by. Energy usage has dropped since the recession was declared.<br>
According to some reports, Japan’s energy usage has dropped by 10 to<br>
20 percent. Good news for the environment, at least in the short term.<br>
Not such good news for the energy providers.<br>
<br>
It must be a frustrating situation for the Japanese companies, who<br>
find themselves in the position to make important strategic purchases<br>
but have to make sure they don’t fall victim to the drying up of<br>
credit. But the timing is important. Death and taxes may be certain,<br>
but so is a rise in the price of crude oil.<br>
<br>
Michael Condon<br>
Editor-in-chief<br>
<br>
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<br>
------------------ ICA Event - April 16 -------------------<br>
<br>
Speaker: William Achury, President, Sanko Telecom Co., Ltd.<br>
<br>
Title: Surviving and Thriving in IT, Take Two<br>
<br>
Details: Complete event details at <a href="http://www.icajapan.jp/" target="_blank">http://www.icajapan.jp/</a><br>
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Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009<br>
Time: 6:30 Doors open<br>
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<br>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Editor-in-chief<br>Media Division<br>J@pan Inc. Communications, K.K.<br><br>Business ・ People ・ Technology<br><br>Japan Inc. Communications, K.K.<br>10F Minami-Aoyama First Building,<br>
7-8-1 Minami Aoyama,<br>Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062<br>Tel: 03-4550-2929 (general)<br>Tel: 03-4550-2855 (direct)<br>Fax: 03-4550-2859<br>Email: <a href="mailto:michael@japaninc.com">michael@japaninc.com</a><br><br>English <a href="http://www.japaninc.com">www.japaninc.com</a><br>
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