* Crude imports rise on year after 14 percent fall in April * LNG imports up 26 pct, utilities buy more after March quake * Coal imports down due to power plant damage (Recasts, adds details) By Osamu Tsukimori TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) - Japan's oil and gas imports gained sharply in May from a year ago to fuel power plants running hard to compensate for nuclear reactors either crippled by the March earthquake and tsunami or shut later due to safety concerns. The increased demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil imports could peak in the summer as the country faces peak demand amid power shortages as nuclear plant run rates fall. Japan, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, imported 15.5 million kilolitres (3.14 million barrels per day) of crude oil last month, up 6.9 percent from a year ago, finance ministry data on Monday showed. That marks a recovery after imports had fallen 14 percent to 16.97 million kl in April. LNG imports by the world's top buyer of the fuel jumped 26 percent to 6.039 million tonnes, the data showed. The use of crude and fuel oil by utilities is on the rise as Japanese communities have increasingly opposed nuclear reactor restarts as the crisis drags on at Tokyo Electric's Fukushima Daiichi plant, which continues to leak radiation three months after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the region. Only 19 of the country's 54 nuclear reactors are operating, leaving the world's third-largest economy turning to other fuels, mainly liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil, to try to plug a power shortfall that could hammer its industry and fragile economy during peak demand in the summer. The 10 main utilities more than doubled their crude oil consumption last month to 98,000 barrels per day (bpd), industry data showed earlier this month. Imports of thermal coal for power generation however fell 17.5 percent in May to 7.522 million tonnes, with some plants along the northeast coast shut after the quake, the data showed. LNG SPOT PRICE IN ASIA AT HIGHEST THIS YEAR LNG spot prices in Asia LNG-AS remain at the highest level this year as demand across the region rises ahead of the summer peak. The Japan Crude Cocktail (JCC) price, or the average price for customs-cleared crude oil imports, which is used as the benchmark for LNG prices for Japanese buyers, rose to $118.58 a barrel in May, the highest since $120.65 in September 2008. That compared with $85.00 in May 2010 and a revised $111.88 in April. In yen terms, the JCC price in May was 60,794 yen per kilolitre, the highest since 67,012 yen in October 2008. That compared with 49,708 yen a year earlier and a revised 58,358 yen in April. Competition for LNG is expected to strengthen in the years to come as fast-growing China and India are striving to switch to cleaner LNG against carbon-heavy coal and oil. Already strong Asian LNG prices will get a further fillip as Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's second- and third-biggest exporters, turn to imports to feed local demand. DEMAND ESTIMATES Estimates of Japan's demand for direct-burning utility fuels, which has so far been lackluster in the aftermath of the March Japan earthquake, are wide, ranging from 150,000 to 250,000 bpd, analysts and industry executives have said . Until May, however, there was little sign of the need for an extra 200,000 bpd the IEA estimated , and oil traders and companies holding stocks of crude and fuel oil ready to cash in on a surge in demand from Japan's power plants may have bought more than needed. (For analysis, click: Japan continues to face serious shortfalls in electricity supply in the wake of the March tsunami, with Kansai Electric Power Co the latest major utility to call on buyers to cut power use to avoid rolling blackouts. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Joseph Radford)

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