| JAPAN TO REVISE LONG-TERM ENERGY DEMAND DOWNWARDS | |
| The Ministry of International Trade and | |
| Industry (MITI) will revise its long-term energy supply/demand | |
| outlook by August to meet a forecast downtrend in Japanese | |
| energy demand, ministry officials said. | |
| MITI is expected to lower the projection for primary energy | |
| supplies in the year 2000 to 550 mln kilolitres (kl) from 600 | |
| mln, they said. | |
| The decision follows the emergence of structural changes in | |
| Japanese industry following the rise in the value of the yen | |
| and a decline in domestic electric power demand. | |
| MITI is planning to work out a revised energy supply/demand | |
| outlook through deliberations of committee meetings of the | |
| Agency of Natural Resources and Energy, the officials said. | |
| They said MITI will also review the breakdown of energy | |
| supply sources, including oil, nuclear, coal and natural gas. | |
| Nuclear energy provided the bulk of Japan's electric power | |
| in the fiscal year ended March 31, supplying an estimated 27 | |
| pct on a kilowatt/hour basis, followed by oil (23 pct) and | |
| liquefied natural gas (21 pct), they noted. | |