NHK reported at noon that the energy ministers of Japan, the United States, Australia, and India met in Sydney this morning to discuss clean energy cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. Noting that it has become uncertain whether Japan will be able to continue to procure LNG from the Sakhalin-2 project amid the increasingly fierce global competition for LNG following the Ukraine crisis, the network said Minister Hagiuda is hoping to find ways to procure a stable supply of LNG through separate bilateral meetings with his Quad counterparts. He reportedly told the press prior to the meeting: “I hope to confirm energy cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and strengthen Japan’s energy security. I hope to discuss with the United States and Australia a possible increase in the production of LNG as the situation in Russia remains opaque.”