Pipeliners

May 12, 2009 - Deutsche Presse-Agentur - Visiting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin invited Japanese business leaders to invest in a Russian pipeline project, while companies from both countries drew up an agreement to jointly develop an oil field in eastern Siberia, media reports said Tuesday. Putin, who arrived in Japan Monday, met with local business leaders prior to his summit talks Tuesday with Prime Minister Taro Aso. He invited Japan's private sector to invest in the development of a pipeline project to carry oil across Siberia to the Pacific coast. Meanwhile, a joint venture between Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) and Russia's Irkutsk Oil Co is planned to start exploration in a field about 700 kilometers north of Irkutsk at a cost of about 15 billion yen (153 million dollars), according to the Japanese government-affiliated body. Once the two areas eyed by the Japan-Russia joint venture are ready for commercial oil production, a Japanese private-sector firm would take over the operations from JOGMEC. The oil will be transported to Japan via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, which is entering the second phase of construction.