$12 Billion LNG Deal Signed, Vladivostok to Become Major Hub Supporting Sakhalin

The ice has just melted and the Grand Aniva, purpose-built in Japan to carry Liquefied Natural Gas, waits to leave Aniva Bay terminal after being loaded with LNG. Image: Shell

TOKYO (Dow Jones) –Japan and Russia agreed to provide necessary support for a project to build a liquefied natural gas plant in Vladivostok in a deal signed Sunday, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing Japanese officials.

Japan’s trade and industry minister, Yukio Edano, and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak signed a memorandum in St. Petersburg on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum energy ministers meeting, the report said.

Russian gas firm OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) and a Japanese consortium comprising Itochu Corp. (8001.TO), Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (1662.TO), Marubeni Corp. (8002.TO) and Inpex Corp. (1605.TO) have been conducting a feasibility study since April 2011 for a 10 million-metric-ton-a-year LNG export terminal at Vladivostok, about 1,000 kilometers northwest of Tokyo.

The cost of the projected is estimated to be in the region of 1 trillion yen, according to separate reports in the Asahi Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun.

The project is in line with Russia’s strategy to transport natural gas from Sakhalin and eastern Siberia via pipelines to Vladivostok, where the gas will be turned into LNG for export to countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Kyodo report said.

– Tokyo Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires