A Japanese consortium led by Itochu Corp. (8001.TO) and Russian state gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) have begun an investment study about constructing a liquefied natural gas plant in Russia's Far East, Gazprom said Monday.

Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller and Japan 's head of Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Ichiro Takahara discussed the results of a feasibility study in Moscow Monday, Gazprom said in a statement.

The Japan Far East Gas Co. consortium, which includes Itochu and its unit Itochu Oil Exploration Co., Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (1662.TO), Marubeni Corp. (8002.TO) and Inpex Corp. (1605.TO), agreed with Gazprom last year to conduct a feasibility study of a 10 million-metric-ton-a-year LNG plant in Russia 's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok .

Japanese demand for LNG to generate electricity rose sharply because of the steep drop in nuclear power capacity following the earthquake and tsunami in March last year that damaged the Fukishima nuclear power plant.

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