Qatar promised to continue supplying Japan with liquefied natural gas during a ministerial meeting in Tokyo but did not respond to a request to lower the cost, Japanese officials said.
At the outset Monday of the Japan-Qatar Joint Economic Committee meeting, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano said fuel costs for thermal power generation are the country's "major concern" in light of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and asked the world's largest LNG producer to cooperate in providing an "inexpensive" supply.
But the officials said the Qatari representatives did not clearly touch on price issues during the meeting.