The meeting focused on the prospects for interaction between Russia and Japan within the Eastern Gas Program, which includes the construction of a system of gas pipelines to unite proposed gas production hubs in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Irkutsk region, the Republic of Yakutia, the Sakhalin region and the Kamchatka Territory.
Participants at the meeting discussed the construction of the 502 km Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline and its significance for increasing Russian gas exports.
Gazprom is aiming for the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok pipeline, which will run across a considerable stretch within an integrated corridor with the East Siberian oil (ESO) pipeline system, to deliver first gas by 2011.
In May 2009, Gazprom, the Natural Resources and Energy Agency of Japan, Itochu Corporation and Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (JAPEX) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), stipulating joint investigation on possibilities of natural gas utilisation around Vladivostok. Under the MoU, the parties agreed to examine further transportation and distribution, and/or processing and marketing to potential customers in Asia-Pacific countries including Japan.