Japan's participation in building LNG plant to ensure its gas supplies

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12/12 Tass 47

TOKYO, December 12 (Itar-Tass) - Japan's participation "in building a
liquefied natural gas factory in the area of Vladivostok will help it to
increase stability of deliveries of energy resources and the level of the
country's energy security", writes on Sunday Japan's leading newspaper
Yomiuri, stressing that "Russia has several large gas deposits, the demand
for which is on the rise in the world".
Japan, importing gas mostly from South East Asia and the Pacific
region, attaches much importance to the use of this ecologically clean
energy carrier. "Energy companies of many countries in the world actively
switch over to LNG, which rises demand and aggravates competition among
consumers," the newspaper notes.
In Yomiuri's opinion, "global consumption of liquefied natural gas in
2035 will triple as against 2008".
Yomiuri reports, referring to reliable sources at the country's energy
sector, that Japan and Russia are close to signing an agreement on
building a large LNG plant in Vladivostok". The document is expected "to
be signed late this month by representatives of the Japanese Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry, the Itochu trade and investment corporation
and the Russian Gazprom Company.
The joint venture is planned to start producing LNG in 2017". The
Vladivostok project "will help Japan to ensure gas deliveries from East
Siberian deposits". The volume of the plant's annual output will top five
million tonnes, and the sum of investments will total several hundred
billions of yenas (several billion US dollars).
LNG, the newspaper continues, "will be delivered to Japan by special
gas carriers". The sides study a possibility, Yomiuri added, of joint
construction of a large chemical complex and other related enterprises.
If the project materialises, deliveries of Russian gas to Japan will
top ten percent of the entire volume of LNG, imported by the country. It
now comes from a Sakhalin plant, producing annually over six million
tonnes of LNG.
-0-bur/kud