Japan is going to buy up to 1 million barrels a day of Russian petroleum.
Questions on deliveries to Japan of the Russian petroleum in volume, almost two hundred times exceeding the present, will be discussed within the framework of the visit to Moscow of the Prime Minister of Japan Dzunitiro Koidzumi.
According to the Kiodo Tsusin agency, at the end of the last year the head of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ioriko Kawaguchi and the Minister of Economics and industry Takeo Hiranumy have directed a message to Moscow, in which "import of petroleum from Russia in volume of 1 million barrels per day was actually guaranteed".
The Prime Minister of Japan considers that energy is one of the most perspective spheres of bilateral economic cooperation. Determinative is the geographical affinity of Russia and Japan, and also rich natural resources of the Far East and Siberia.
In 2001 Japan imported from Russia only 2 million barrels of petroleum, a little more than 0,1 % from the total amount of import of this energy source.
The mutual trade turnover of the Russian Federation and Japan in I the first half of 2002 has added up to $1 billion 863,4 million. Thus export from the Russian Federation has made $1 billion 424,2 million, and import from Japan - $439,2 million. In 2001 commodity circulation between the countries was equal to $4 billion 592 million against $5 billion 168,2 million in 2000.
From the countries of the Near and Middle East during the last year was imported 1,37 billion barrels of petroleum that is about 90 % from total amount. Because of the Israeli - Palestinian conflict and the intense situation around of Iraq Japan aspires to reduce dependence on deliveries of petroleum from this region.
Japan also is ready to promote construction of an oil pipeline from the Eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast.
As the Secretary General of the cabinet of Japan Jasuo Fukuda has declared in December, joint construction of an oil pipeline becomes one of the mainstreams of the Japanese-Russian economic cooperation. Details of the project, as he said, are studied.
Now two variants of construction of an oil pipeline are considered. One variant offered by oil company "YUKOS", provides construction of the pipeline from Angarsk to Datsina (China), the second - from Angarsk to Nahodka.
According to the newspaper "Nihon keidzai", the Japanese government hopes through participation in such project to receive concessions on petroleum resources of Siberian region. Japan will provide some billion dollars for construction of the pipeline through credits and investment programs.
Author: Alla Usolkina
