Japanese gas and energy firms are seeking alternate natural gas suppliers amid concerns over potential disruption from Russia, which has been subjected to a barrage of Western sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine, according to reports on Monday. Russia is Japan’s fifth-largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier, accounting for about 8 percent of the country’s consumption. Russia’s Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project was also one of Japan’s main LNG supply sources, with an annual capacity of 9.6 million tons. Tohoku Electric Power and Kyushu Electric Power both obtain coal and LNG from Russia, though Tohoku Electric Power reportedly eliminated Russian LNG from its tender, The Japan Times reported on March 25. Hiroshima Gas, which procures about 200,000 tons of LNG from the Sakhalin-2 project, said it plans to purchase LNG from Malaysia and other countries or tap supply reserves from other Japanese utilities if the Russian supply chain is disrupted, Japanese …