Russia and Japan are moving closer to building a liquefied natural gas
plant on Russia's Pacific Coast, state gas firm OAO Gazprom said Wednesday, following a meeting between the company's management and
Japanese officials in Moscow.
The two countries are preparing an investment plan for
construction of an export terminal near the Russian city of Vladivostok
to ship either liquefied natural gas or compressed natural gas, Gazprom
said.
As Japan seeks to reduce its dependence on LNG imports from
Indonesia--currently its largest supplier--government officials and
company executives have intensified talks with Russian counterparts.
Earlier this month, the two countries signed a preliminary agreement to
build a gas export terminal near Vladivostok.
Japan currently imports shipments of liquefied natural gas, or
LNG, from the Sakhalin-2 project, Russia's only LNG plant, in which
Mitsui & Co. (8031.TO) and Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.TO) are
shareholders.
Russia is building a 1300 kilometer pipeline from Sakhalin to
Vladivostok, planned to be completed by the end of 2011.