South Korea and Japan are among the world’s largest LNG importers, sourcing LNG from a wide range of regions and suppliers. Yet methane intensity can vary considerably depending on where and how the gas is produced.

This joint research by Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC) and the Climate Intelligence Program at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) explores how LNG contract information and publicly available emissions data can help importers better understand methane performance across their own supply chains. By making differences across supply sources more visible, LNG buyers can better understand methane-related risks and consider methane performance in supplier engagement and procurement decisions.

Applied to major Korean and Japanese LNG import portfolios, the approach points to areas where closer scrutiny and engagement could have the greatest value. Southeast Asian supply generally shows higher upstream methane intensity than other supplying regions, while significant variation among individual U.S. assets shows the importance of looking beyond regional averages. These findings can help focus efforts to improve methane data transparency and identify opportunities for more targeted methane reduction.