Jan 23 JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp said its venture with Malaysian state oil firm Petronas has started commercial operations at the ninth liquefaction train at the Petronas LNG complex in Bintulu, Sarawak. The launch of the ninth train comes at a time when U.S. LNG exporters are sending tankers to Asia to fill a gap in the region’s demand as markets have tightened more-than-expected on surging consumption in China and Pakistan, and because of Australia’s struggles to ramp up production.