Japan has agreed to buy more liquefied natural gas from the U.S. and Oman to secure fuel supplies and avoid future shortages, Bloomberg reported.

Inpex Corp., Japan's largest exploration company, has signed an agreement to buy 1 million tons of gas a year from Venture Global's LNG CP2 export project in Louisiana for 20 years. According to Venture Global, construction of CP2 is scheduled to begin next year.

Several Japanese companies, including Mitsui & Co., Itochu Corp. and the country's largest power producer, Jera Co., will enter into an agreement with Oman to buy an additional 2 million tons or so a year starting in 2025 for 10 years, NHK reported.

The Japanese government is exploring ways to increase energy security amid the country's fuel shortages. The plan is for global LNG supplies to remain tight for years, threatening higher import costs and inflation.

It also marks a shift for Japan's LNG importers, who have abandoned long-term deals, expecting that a shift to cleaner energy sources would reduce gas demand this decade. Instead, companies were increasing their reliance on the short-term spot market to secure LNG supplies.

However, due to the tightness of the spot market and prices near record highs, Japanese companies are now reversing course and locking in years of supply at more attractive rates.