Gazprom, Japan say energy cooperation has major growth potential
MOSCOW. June 22 (Interfax) - Gazprom and Japan say energy cooperation major growth potential.
The Russian gas giant said in a press release following a meeting between its chief executive, Alexei Miller, and the Japanese ambassador to Russia, Chikahito Harada, that the Sakhalin 2 project was "a symbol of success in Russian-Japanese cooperation."
They also discussed the Sakhalin 3 project, noting a "major potential for the development of energy cooperation in the short term."
Miller and Harada also discussed the joint feasibility study on the options for natural gas export as well as the gas chemical and gas processing projects near Vladivostok. It was announced to the Japanese party that the Sakhalin - Khabarovsk- Vladivostok gas pipeline with the nominal throughput capacity of 30 billion cubic meters would be commissioned in September and the Chayanda - Khabarovsk - Vladivostok project would be started in 2012.
Special attention was paid to additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to Japan by Gazprom from the Sakhalin 2 project and the company's portfolio already carried out this year and planned for the coming months, Gazprom said.
Japan imports all of its gas in the form of LNG, of which it is the world's biggest importer.
Gazprom's foreign economic operations department chief, Pavel Oderov, said on June 21 that Gazprom has supplied three additional LNG consignments from its own Sakhalin 2 portfolio to Japan this year, that two would be supplied in June and that there was a potential to supply more. But he said Japan would have to decide how much additional gas it needs, given limitations on regasification and LNG storage capacity at Japanese ports.
Oderov said Sakhalin 2 produced over 10 million tonnes of LNG in 2010 and aimed to produce as much in 2011. Half the target has been met by June 8, so there is potential for more LNG shipments to Japan, he said.