OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2010. The Gazprom Headquarters hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee and Masaharu Kono, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Russian Federation.

The meeting paid special attention to the prospects for the Russian-Japanese interaction within the Eastern Gas Program. In particular, the parties stressed the progress in the joint activities of Gazprom, the Natural Resources and Energy Agency of Japan and Japanese companies relevant to studying possible ways of launching the joint projects aimed at creating gas liquefaction/compression facilities, as well as building gas processing and gas chemical facilities in eastern Russia.

In addition, the meeting participants discussed the construction of the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system, its significance for increasing Russian gas exports and highlighted the great meaning of bridge financing for the said project.
Background

With scarce domestic energy resources, Japan is the world’s fourth-largest country in terms of energy consumption. The country annually consumes some 80 billion cubic meters of gas, the share of which totals nowadays 14 per cent in the national energy basket and is to be further increased. Japan imports 100 per cent of overall gas consumption in the form of LNG and is the world’s top LNG importer.

Gazprom and the Natural Resources and Energy Agency under the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry of Japan signed the Framework Agreement of Cooperation in 2005.

In December 2008 Gazprom and the Natural Resources and Energy Agency under the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry of Japan signed the Agreement to jointly develop the investment rationale for the project aimed at creating gas processing and gas chemical facilities to be fed with feedstock resources from the Sobinskoye oil, gas and condensate field.

On May 12, 2009 Gazprom, the Agency, Itochu Corporation and Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (JAPEX) signed the Memorandum of Understanding. The Memorandum stipulates joint investigation on possibilities of natural gas utilization around Vladivostok: its further transportation and distribution, and/or processing and marketing of its derivatives to potential customers in Asia-Pacific countries including Japan.

The September 3, 2007 Order by the Russian Federation Industry and Energy Ministry approved the Development Program for an integrated gas production, transportation and supply system in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, taking into account potential gas exports to China and other Asia-Pacific countries (Eastern Gas Program). Gazprom was identified by the Russian Government as the Program execution coordinator.

The Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system with its first start-up complex planned for commissioning in the third quarter of 2011 is a top priority project of the Eastern Gas Program.