Japan's government will offer domestic companies financial incentives to ship liquefied natural gas produced in the U.S. to other parts of Asia, a policy change that supports President Donald Trump's goal of selling more American energy overseas.

Under current rules, vessels carrying American LNG qualify for subsidies such as discounted trade insurance only if they stop at ports in Japan -- the world's biggest importer of the fuel -- before heading to third countries.

Tokyo plans to remove this requirement, which costs businesses time and money, as early as this year.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government sees the move helping expand exports of Japanese energy infrastructure, such as generators and LNG terminals.

Asian demand for natural gas is expected to double by 2040 from current levels, the International Energy Agency estimates. Tokyo expects that higher exports of American LNG to Asia will also help the U.S. reduce trade deficits.

The financial incentives are provided by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance and Japan Bank for International Cooperation in the form of halved insurance premiums and low-interest loans. Both government agencies are expected to expand their programs to cover cases in which vessels transport American LNG directly to third countries.

The government also plans to extend financial support to projects by Japanese companies to build LNG terminals in other Asian countries. It will hold a meeting soon to hammer out those plans.

The shale gas revolution turned the U.S. into a net exporter of natural gas in 2017, but trade friction with China presents an obstacle to this business. Beijing had planned to import large amounts of American LNG but recently imposed tariffs on the fuel in retaliation for the Trump administration's duties on Chinese-made goods.

For Japan, energy forms a key part of the government's goal of raising the value of overseas infrastructure contracts to about 30 trillion yen ($267 billion) in 2020, triple the 2010 level.