Russia's energy ministry and Japan's ministry of economy, trade and industry next week are to sign a memorandum for possible LNG projects in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East, Viktor Timoshilov, head of Gazprom's Eastern program, said Monday.
The memorandum is to be signed at a meeting of energy ministers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries, Timoshilov told reporters at a Gazprom media briefing.
The meeting is to be held on June 24-25 in Russia's St Petersburg, according to the APEC 2012 program.
Gazprom expects to prepare an investment study for construction of a 10 million mt/year LNG plant near Vladivostok by the end of the year, Alexander Medvedev, head of Gazprom Export, said at the briefing.
Earlier, the company planned to complete the investment study in the first quarter of 2013.
PIPELINE OR LNG?
Gazprom plans to consider construction of a gas pipeline to Japan only after the Vladivostok LNG plant is built, Vitaly Markelov, deputy chairman of Gazprom, said at the briefing.
"Our Japanese partners have raised the issue of constructing the pipeline during our [recent] talks. We have agreed that both for Russia and Japan, the LNG plant is a priority," Markelov said.
Construction of a gas pipeline to Japan is seen as risky due to high seismic activity in the region, he added.
Currently, Sakhalin 2 in the Far East is Russia's only LNG project. The combined capacity of its two trains is 9.6 million mt/year.
