Russia's state-run gas giant Gazprom and Japan Far East Gas Co., a consortium of Japanese companies, have agreed to conduct a feasibility study on construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and a gas chemical complex in Vladivostok in the country's Far East, Gazprom said on Tuesday.
An agreement on the project was signed in Moscow on Tuesday by Gazprom Deputy Board Chairman Alexander Ananenkov and Japan Far East Gas Co.,Ltd Chief Executive Officer Yoshio Matsukawa.
"The parties plan to consider launching a pilot natural gas compression project near Vladivostok for further transportation by sea," Gazprom said.
The study could have a bearing on possible increases in Gazprom's natural gas supplies from Russia to the Pacific Rim states and for making energy supplies to Japan more reliable and secure, Ananenkov said.
An agreement to construct an LNG plant in Russia's Primorye territory was reached in May 2010. Construction of the plant was dependent on the launch of gas supplies from the republic of Yakutia in northeast Siberia.
Gazprom plans to start the construction of the Yakutia-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipeline in 2012. The company is currently preparing a feasibility study for that project. The 4,500 kilometer pipeline's annual capacity could reach 32-35 billion cubic meters of gas.
Japan is the world's fourth largest energy consumer, but has almost no hydrocarbon energy resources. Japan imports 100% of its liquefied natural gas, topping the world's list of LNG importers.
MOSCOW, April 26 (RIA Novosti)
