A senior Japanese trade ministry official said the ministry and OAO Gazprom hold regular meeting to explore Japanese companies involvement in Russia’s energy development programme, but added that it is not true that Russia is seeking assistance.
The Nikkei business daily paper said Japan was considering financing a planned pipeline extension from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok through the state-run Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
Exxon Mobil Corporation operates Sakhalin-1 along with Russian state oil company Rosneft , Japan’s Itochu and Marubeni , and India’s ONGC.
OAO Gazprom in 2008 said it would provide for the development of the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas transport system, focusing first on the Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas link, which it plans to conclude in 2011.
OAO Gazprom has long said it needs the gas produced at Sakahlin-1 to cover domestic needs, while Exxon Mobil Corporation is planning to supply the fuel to China.
The project has been pumping oil for several years and reached peak production of 11.2 million tones in 2007.
It has been producing gas since 2005 and shipping small volumes to continental Russia.
It has signed a deal to supply China with eight billion cubic metres of gas annually and expects to commence the supplies next decade.
