* JERA says it faces no immediate LNG supply threat

* In talks with global LNG suppliers, Global CEO says

* Restarting coal power plants might be needed if crisis

deepens

(Recasts headline, paragraph 1, adds JERA quote in paragraph 5,

price information in paragraph 6, Global Coal quote in

paragraphs 8-9, Venture Global ( VG ) comments in paragraphs 10-12,

bullets)

By Yuka Obayashi and Katya Golubkova

TOKYO, March 14 (Reuters) - Japan's biggest liquefied

natural gas buyer, JERA, has started talks for potential

additional purchases with global suppliers to hedge against

Middle East supply worsening further, even as a major LNG

exporter said the price spike was short-lived.

Some 20% of global LNG supply is offline as the U.S.-Israeli

war on Iran has shut QatarEnergy LNG facilities, disrupting

energy supplies from the Middle East. It could take months to

return to normal deliveries, Qatari Energy Minister Saad

al-Kaabi said last week.

JERA handles about 35 million metric tons of the

super-chilled fuel annually, of which around 27 million tons are

used domestically, with about 5% of its shipments passing

through the Strait of Hormuz, said Global CEO Yukio Kani.

VENTURE GLOBAL SAYS VOLATILITY SHORT-LIVED

While there is no immediate LNG shortage, the company is

discussing potential additional procurement with global

suppliers with which JERA has long-term contracts, Kani told

reporters on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Energy Security

Ministerial and Business Forum in Tokyo.

"It is still possible that things could settle down within a

few weeks. However, it would be far too optimistic to base our

planning on that assumption," Kani said.

The average LNG price for April delivery into Northeast Asia

was estimated at $19.50 per million British thermal units

(mmBtu), down from $22.50/mmBtu in the previous week, which was

the highest since mid-January 2023.

If the crisis deepens with the war and the closure of the

Strait of Hormuz dragging on, it could become necessary to work

with the Japanese government to consider measures such as asking

consumers to conserve energy and restarting dormant power

stations, including coal-fired plants, said Kani.

The Middle East crisis has brought energy security back on

the table, Steven Read, president of Global Coal Sales Group

which markets coal produced by U.S. mining company Signal Peak

Energy, told Reuters.

"We've already seen customers coming in wanting to talk

about options," Read, whose company sells coal to Japan and

other buyers, said on the sidelines of the conference. "We had

buyers come back saying, hey, we think we might want another

cargo."

U.S. LNG developer Venture Global ( VG ), the second-largest

U.S. LNG exporter and a JERA supplier, believes the "tremendous"

market volatility is "very short-term", Chief Executive Mike

Sabel told the conference.

"We're tremendously optimistic about the middle- and

long-term strength of the market, equity in the market, supply

coming online. We expect long-term, very stable liquefaction

prices," he said.

Venture Global ( VG ) on Friday decided to proceed with phase 2 of

its CP2 LNG project in Louisiana, which Sabel said should start

production next year: "It'll have a significant impact on the

fuel market prices pretty quickly."