Japan mulls issuing energy transition bonds

Market: Coal, Electricity, Emissions, LPG, Natural gas, Oil products
23/12/22

Japan is considering issuing energy transition bonds in line with its carbon pricing scheme, with a target to raise around ¥20 trillion ($151bn) over 10 years for investment into energy transition efforts.

The trade and industry ministry (Meti) earlier this month proposed an initial plan for the energy transition bonds to encourage the country's industrial sector to shift towards clean energy from conventional fossil fuel, alongside the country's carbon pricing scheme, which is mainly comprised of a carbon levy and a carbon emission trading system.

The carbon levy is planned to be imposed on fossil fuel importers, such as power firms, refiners, steel makers and trading firms from the April 2028-March 2029 fiscal year. Estimated CO2 emissions depending on the fossil fuel will be considered in the levy calculations.

It will be an additional burden for fossil fuel importers, that are already paying the country's existing petroleum and coal tax. But the total burden on consumers is expected to remain unchanged from current levels, as the petroleum and coal tax will be reduced before the implementation of the levy, Meti said. The levy will initially start off at a small amount, and gradually be raised.

The current petroleum and coal tax is ¥2,800/kilo litre ($3.40/bl) for crude oil and refined oil products, ¥1,860/t for LPG and LNG and ¥1,370/t for coal. The levy includes an environmental tax, which is aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Japan is also mulling an auction system for emission allowances, similar to the EU's emissions trading system. The system is planned to be implemented among domestic power firms first, starting around the 2033-34 fiscal year, as the power sector already has commercialised power plants utilising renewable energy that can cut CO2 emissions, Meti added. Free emission allowances will initially be allocated to the power companies by the government, and will gradually be removed.

Before launching the auction, Meti will carry out simulated trading on the country's voluntary carbon credit market, which is targeted to be launched in the 2023-24 fiscal year. Meti will also formulate detailed policies, targets and regulations for the trading system.

Trading on the voluntary carbon credit market is likely to begin with credits generated by members of the Green Transformation (GX) league, an initiative by Meti to achieve both economic growth and emissions mitigation. GX members consist of around 600 companies from a wide range of industries that emit CO2 in Japan.

Japan is gearing up its energy transition efforts to achieve its net zero by 2050 goal. The country earlier this month also revealed its draft plan to subsidise hydrogen and ammonia producers to make their selling prices as competitive as that of LNG and coal.

By Maiko Nakashima

Related news posts

Argus illuminates the markets by putting a lens on the areas that matter most to you. The market news and commentary we publish reveals vital insights that enable you to make stronger, well-informed decisions. Explore a selection of news stories related to this one.

News

07/04/25

Flooding on US rivers mires barge transit

Houston, 7 April (Argus) — Barge transit slowed across the Arkansas, Ohio and lower Mississippi rivers over the weekend because of flooding, which prompted the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to close locks and issue transit restrictions along the waterways. The Corps advised all small craft to limit or halt transit on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MCKARNS) in Arkansas because flows reached above 200,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), nearly three times the high-water flow. The heavy flow is expected to persist throughout the week, posing risks to those transiting the river system, said the Corps. Some barges have halted movement on the river, temporarily miring fertilizer resupply efforts in Arkansas and Oklahoma in the middle of the urea application season. The Corps forecasts high flows to continue into Friday, and the National Weather Service predicts several locations along the MCKARNS will maintain a moderate to minor flood stage into Friday as well. Both the Arthur V Ormond Lock and the Toad Suck Ferry Lock, upriver from Little Rock, Arkansas, shut on 6 April because of the high flows. Flows along the Little Rock Corps district reached 271,600cfs on 7 April. The Corps forecasts high flows to continue into Friday. Ohio and lower Mississippi rivers The Corps restricted barge transit between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Cairo, Illinois, on the Ohio River to mitigate barge transportation risks, with the Corps closing two locks on the Ohio River on 6 April and potentially four more in the coming days. Major barge carrier American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL) anticipates dock and fleeting operations will be suspended at certain locations along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers as a result of the flooding. NWS forecasters anticipate major flooding levels to persist through the following week. Barge carriers also expect a backlog of up to two weeks in the region. To alleviate flooding at Cairo, Illinois, where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers meet, the Corps increased water releases at the Barkley Dam on the Cumberland River and the Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee River. The Markland Lock, downriver from Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Newburgh lock near Owensboro, Kentucky, closed on 6 April. The Corps expects the full closure to remain until each location reaches its crest of nearly 57ft, which could occur on 8 or 9 April, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Around 50 vessels or more are waiting to transit each lock, according to the Lock Status Report published by the Corps on 7 April. The Corps also shut a chamber at both Cannelton and McAlpine locks. The John T Myers and Smithland locks may close on 7 April as well, the Corps said. The Olmsted Lock, the final lock before the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, will require a 3mph limit for any traffic passing through. The NWS expects roughly 10-15 inches of precipitation fell along the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys earlier this month, inducing severe flooding across the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys. A preliminary estimate from AccuWeather stated an estimated loss of $80-90bn in damages from the extreme flooding. By Meghan Yoyotte Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Find out more

News

Colombia's renewables grow, but gap looms

07/04/25

News

07/04/25

Colombia's renewables grow, but gap looms

Bogota, 7 April (Argus) — Development of non-conventional renewable (NCRE) generation has picked up in Colombia, but the pace is still not fast enough to cover a projected generation shortage by 2027-2028. Colombia will likely reach 2.55GW in installed NCRE such as solar and wind — excluding large hydropower — by the end of 2025, up from 1.88GW at the end of 2024, Colombian renewable association SER director Alexandra Hernandez told Argus at the Colombia Genera conference held last week in Cartagena. About 670MW from 19 medium and large NCRE plants worth $500mn will likely come online in 2025, Hernandez noted. Of that total, 30MW in two projects came online in January, and the balance of 640MW are under construction, according to Hernandez. The plants will reduce emissions by 1.1mn metric tonnes (t) CO2/yr compared with conventional generation. For 2026, 419MW in NCRE could come online. NCRE will comprise a 12pc share of Colombia's generation capacity in 2025, up from 10pc in 2024. Despite that, Colombia will fail to meet its target of 6GW in NCRE by August 2026, when the administration of President Gustavo Petro ends, former minister of mines and energy Amylkar Acosta said. Colombia will likely will end 2026 with 3GW, Hernandez noted. This comes despite Petro's support for renewable energy and attempts to phase out hydrocarbons use. Much of this development is focused on the dry, windswept department of La Guajira that borders Venezuela and juts into the Caribbean. US firm AES' will start building the first 259MW phase of its 1.1GW Jemeiwaa Ka'I wind complex there later this year, AES's general manager Federico Echavarria said at the Colombia Genera conference. "Our biggest bet is La Guajira," Echavarria said. Last year, Colombia's environmental regulator Anla approved a transmission line connecting 648MW of planned wind capacity in the La Guajira area to the national grid. The 500kV Casa Electrica-Colectora transmission line and substation will connect with Grupo de Energia de Bogota's 500kV Colectora transmission line. Colectora has begun construction and should come online in 2026, a delay from its original 2022 start date. La Guajira has Colombia's greatest renewable power potential, including 21GW of wind power potential, according to state planning agency UPME. But delays to key transmission projects and lengthy community consultations impeded development. Italian power company Enel suspended indefinitely construction of a 205MW wind farm in the Windpeschi region, but state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol is seeking authorization to buy it. Projects advancing in other departments include the 200MW Orquidea solar project in the Caribbean province of Bolivar, which recently earned an environmental permit that clears the way for construction. Running out of time But this new generation capacity will not cover an expected supply shortfall. Colombia is forecast to have a gap of around 2,000MW by 2027-2028 assuming baseline consumption, and 3,000MW-6,000MW if demand rises further, several electricity associations have said. Renewables could help fill this gap, as the construction is fairly quick once permits as security, the renewables group SER said. But 47pc of renewable power companies were unable to complete their planned investments in 2024, with permitting delays among the top reason, the group found in a member survey. Permits from the government's mining and planning unit UPME takes nine months, compared with the two months stipulated by the law. Regional entities take twice as long to issue a permit than the legal limit. The government will push to do more, energy and mines minister Edwin Palma said in Cartagena. "We are convinced and committed to ensuring that expansion projects are carried out," he said. "We will work with the ministry of the interior to expedite licenses." By Diana Delgado Colombia's power generation mix % Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

US producers look overseas as shale stalls

07/04/25

News

07/04/25

US producers look overseas as shale stalls

New York, 7 April (Argus) — US shale producers are seeking to deploy their expertise around hydraulic fracturing in international markets, in a marked departure from their recent strategy and one that is set to accelerate as domestic output slows. Continental Resources — whose billionaire founder and executive chairman Harold Hamm was one of the driving forces behind the shale revolution after figuring out how to unlock the vast resources of North Dakota's Bakken basin with horizontal drilling — recently announced plans to explore for unconventional resources in Turkey. And EOG Resources aims to kick-start a drilling campaign in Bahrain. Early successes could prompt a scramble by peers to follow suit, which would be a reversal of the trend seen in the early days of the shale boom when the industry largely retrenched from overseas investments to concentrate on exploiting domestic plays. And while decisions to venture abroad have been mainly based on individual company strategies up until now — and investors have been lukewarm at best — forecasts for shale to start plateauing in the coming years could lend them greater impetus. "Maybe, as they have success, that will draw others in," energy investment firm Bison Interests chief investment officer and founder Josh Young says. "It could be the start of something big." The caveat is that a potential international push at scale is unlikely to happen overnight, and companies such as Murphy Oil and APA — which already have exploration campaigns under way from Vietnam to Ivory Coast and Suriname — have underperformed compared with their rivals. "You are not seeing that market acceptance or market credit for international projects," Young says. That perception may shift if international exploration yields above-average returns for shareholders, boosting the case for producers to seek to build out their inventory further afield as growth in the shale patch slowly grinds to a halt. International exploration may have its own risks, given shale's success story has largely been confined to the US and Argentina to date. But the "cost of entry is relatively low compared to a North American landscape with little room for exploration and high premiums for solid assets in the Permian", consultancy Rystad Energy vice-president for North America oil and gas Matthew Bernstein says. Hamm, who took Continental private more than two years ago after tiring of public markets, recently warned that US shale is beginning to plateau . "What we really need to concentrate on is where we go as we crest right here in America, what the downside looks like," he told the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston. He also signalled a greater openness to drill outside North America. Talking Turkey Continental recently announced a joint venture with Turkey's national oil company and US-based TransAtlantic Petroleum to develop oil and gas resources in southeast and northwest Turkey. State-owned Turkish Petroleum has pegged initial estimates from the Diyarbakir basin in the southeast that could reach 6bn bl of oil and 12 trillion-20 trillion ft³ (340bn-570bn m³) of gas. The Thrace basin in northwest Turkey may hold up to 20 trillion-45 trillion ft³. "We see immense potential in Turkey's untapped resources," Continental's chief executive, Doug Lawler, says. And in February, EOG Resources announced a tie-in with state-owned Bapco Energies to evaluate a gas prospect in Bahrain. EOG will take on the role of operator, and the venture is awaiting further government approvals. "The formation has previously been tested using horizontal technology, delivering positive results," EOG chief executive Ezra Yacob says. By deploying its existing skillset around horizontal drilling and completions, EOG is confident of achieving results that are competitive with projects in its domestic portfolio. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

Tariffs and their impact larger than expected: Powell

04/04/25

News

04/04/25

Tariffs and their impact larger than expected: Powell

New York, 4 April (Argus) — Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said today tariff increases unveiled by US president Donald Trump will be "significantly larger" than expected, as will the expected economic fallout. "The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth," Powell said today at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing's annual conference in Arlington, Virginia. The central bank will continue to carefully monitor incoming data to assess the outlook and the balance of risks, he said. "We're well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance," Powell added. "It is too soon to say what will be the appropriate path for monetary policy." As of 1pm ET today, Fed funds futures markets are pricing in 29pc odds of a quarter point cut by the Federal Reserve at its next meeting in May and 99pc odds of at least a quarter point rate cut in June. Earlier in the day the June odds were at 100pc. The Fed chairman spoke after trillions of dollars in value were wiped off stock markets around the world and crude prices plummeted following Trump's rollout of across-the-board tariffs earlier in the week. Just before his appearance, Trump pressed Powell in a post on his social media platform to "STOP PLAYING POLITICS!" and cut interest rates without delay. A closely-watched government report showed the US added a greater-than-expected 228,000 jobs in March , showing hiring was picking up last month. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

UK considers import tariffs on US oil products

04/04/25

News

04/04/25

UK considers import tariffs on US oil products

London, 4 April (Argus) — The UK government has included refined oil products from the US in a list of goods that could be subject to retaliatory tariffs. The government said it was considering "potential tariff measures on US goods, should this be deemed necessary" in response to a 10pc US import tariff on UK goods and services — excluding energy — due to take effect on 5 April. The consultation will last until 1 May. Light oils, gasoils, jet fuel, fuel oils, lubricants and bitumen all feature in the list of products possibly subject to retaliatory tariffs. The UK could be particularly exposed to any tariff impact on US middle distillate imports in the event of retaliation. The UK sourced over a quarter of its 14.37mn t of 10ppm diesel and gasoil from the US last year, according to Vortexa, while 3pc of its 10.15mn t of jet and kerosine imports were sourced from the US. It is not clear what tariff rate the UK is targeting in its potential retaliation. For other oil products, any potential import tariff impact would become more muted as US refined product imports become less significant. The UK received just 6pc of its 1.92mn t total fuel oil imports from the US last year, while the UK was the fourth largest gasoline supplier to the US and received none of the product from its trade partner. European refined product values have collapsed as a result of the escalating trade war which saw China retaliate today against the US' latest tariff action. Eurobob non-oxy gasoline barge prices dropped by 4pc to $700.75/t on 3 April at a time when trading activity typically picks up ahead of the US summer driving season. Indicated non-oxy barge values were set to drop further in the trading session today. The EU is similarly preparing countermeasures against US import tariffs, which Washington set at 20pc from 9 April in addition to existing rates. Ice gasoil futures had dropped by 10pc since President Trump announced the new tariff regime on 2 April to $615.75/t by the close today. Ice gasoil futures are used as the pricing basis against which diesel, gasoil and jet fuel grades are assessed in the European middle distillates markets. European refined products market participants have pointed to a darker global economic outlook triggered by the US import tariffs as the driving force behind the drop-off in European product values. By George Maher-Bonnett Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more