"We had assumed a tight global LNG market during the winter, but the market has eased thanks to warmer weather in Europe, improving our procurement environment in terms of volume and prices," Tetsuo Yoshida, the head of finance, told a news conference.
Higher-than-expected profit from its trading unit, JERAGM, and stronger contribution from reselling some of the super-chilled fuel by JERA, one of the world's biggest LNG buyers, when its demand was lower, also boosted its earnings, Yoshida said. The revised guideline is based on an assumption that JERA will not receive the fuel from Freeport LNG, the second-biggest U.S. LNG exporter, by the end of March, according to Yoshida.
The LNG company's plant shut after a pipeline explosion on June 8, 2022 and the restart has been delayed. Freeport LNG got approval from federal regulators last week to take early steps to restart the plant in Texas, though it has not yet sought permission to restart the facility.JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings