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Korea, India, Japan, & Others, Not Just China, Are Now Looking To Russia For Energy
Those that deal in honest trade with one another as oppose to those which create mayhem, destruction, theft and death? It's apparent some nations are a bit more civilized on foreign policies and trade compared to the nut farm operating out of Washington DC.
Those that deal in honest trade with one another as oppose to those which create mayhem, destruction, theft and death? It's apparent some nations are a bit more civilized on foreign policies and trade compared to the nut farm operating out of Washington DC.
Japanese Lawmakers to Lobby Abe for Russian Gas Pipeline By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Emi Urabe May 27, 2014 8:20 PM PT 19 Comments Email Print
Sakhalin Island. A group of 33 Japanese lawmakers is backing a 1,350km pipeline between Russia's Sakhalin Island and Japan's Ibaraki prefecture in a bid to cut energy costs after the Fukushima nuclear disaster
Japanese lawmakers are reviving efforts for a 600 billion yen ($5.9 billion) natural gas pipeline from Russia, which last week signed a supply deal with China, to cut energy costs after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
A group of 33 lawmakers is backing the 1,350-kilometer (839 miles) pipeline between Russia’s Sakhalin Island and Japan’s Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, Naokazu Takemoto, the secretary general of the group, said in an interview on May 23. He plans to propose the project to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as early as June so it’s on the agenda when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits in autumn, he said.
The shutdown of Japan’s nuclear reactors after the 2011 Fukushima disaster has spurred renewed interest in the Russia-Japan pipeline link, which has been discussed for more than a decade, Takemoto said. The effort also highlights Russia’s expanding role as a energy supplier to Asia after the country signed a $400 billion deal last week to sell China 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually for 30 years.
Japan spent a record 7 trillion yen last year on liquefied natural gas imports, more than double the cost three years ago, according to the Ministry of Finance. The country could lower its energy bill by getting gas directly by pipeline rather than more-expensive LNG, which is shipped by tankers, Takemoto said.
“Building an LNG plant requires a lot of money and makes the per unit cost of gas very expensive,” said Takemoto, who serves in the House of Representatives as a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. “Japan would be better off” buying gas via pipeline, he said.
China Deal
The Russia-China accord for gas supplies by pipeline from eastern Siberia was probably reached at a price of $10.50 to $11 per million British thermal units, Bank of America Corp. said in a report yesterday. That compares with a current spot price of $13.30 for liquefied natural gas cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia. Spot LNG prices are at a 19-month low after falling from a record of $19.70 in February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from New York-based Energy Intelligence Group.
continued... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...-push-abe-on-russia-natural-gas-pipeline.html
Korea, India And Japan, Not Just China, Are Looking To Russia For Energy
By Meagan Clark
on May 19 2014 11:57 AM
Korea, India And Japan, Not Just China, Are Looking To Russia For Energy
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attend the opening ceremony of the "Year of Chinese Tourism in Russia" at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow on March 22, 2013. Reuters
When Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Beijing on Tuesday, he’s expected to sign a multibillion-dollar deal with China to build a natural gas pipeline after more than a decade of negotiations and over U.S. objections that China is undermining Western sanctions against Russia stemming from the Ukraine crisis.
It may be the first of many such energy deals in the region as Putin looks to the East to bypass the sanctions. Already the sanctions have led some American oil and gas executives to skip an upcoming economic conference in Russia. The deal between Russia’s state gas company, Gazprom, and China’s state oil and gas company, CNPC, allows Russia to diversify its customer base, which is heavily dependent on sales to Europe.
Aware that it could lose market share in Europe -- within 10 years, North American natural gas could ship to Europe -- Russia has been looking to Asian and East Asian markets, where demand for energy imports is rapidly growing.
“Japanese, Indian and Korean companies are increasing their interest and involvement in Russia’s energy sector,” Kyle Davis, an energy expert at international law firm Goltsblat BLP, said. “Strategically it makes sense, whether things are going well with the West or not.”
In late April, Russia's parliament voted to forgive North Korea 90 percent of its debt to Russia, which dated back to the Soviet era when the two nations were allies during the Cold War. Instead, it voted to invest $1 billion in the world’s most-secretive country for health care, education and energy projects. The planned energy project is a major natural gas pipeline through North Korea.
Russia plans to build a gas pipeline and accompanying railroad from its offshore Sakhalin Island fields, north of Japan, through North Korea to South Korea.
“Obviously, the greatest variable in this project is the North Korean risk, which must be handled effectively,” Chris Faulkner, CEO of Texas-based Breitling Energy and adviser to the Energy China Forum’s Asia Shale Gas Committee, said. “North Korea is not trustworthy enough to entrust with an energy supply line, and inter-Korean relations are not healthy enough at present to carry out this project.”
ExxonMobil operates one of the Sakhalin fields with a 30 percent stake, partnering with companies from Japan (30 percent stake), India (20 percent) and two Russian companies (20 percent combined). Subsidiaries of Gazprom, Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell, Japanese corporate group Mitsui and Japanese auto manufacturer Mitsubishi operate the other field. The project is expected to supply South Korea with 10 billion cubic meters of gas each year. It's expected to make North Korea into a sort of Ukraine, and it's expected to make South Korea akin to Europe with its present dependence on Russian gas.
South Korea relies on imports to meet about 97 percent of its energy needs, making it the world’s second-largest natural gas importer behind Japan.
"Seems to me Putin is using the Korean project to put pressure on the Chinese to make up their mind," Gal Luft, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security and senior adviser to the U.S. Energy Security Council, said. "For him the big prize is China and this week's visit is crucial."
Russia and India have been negotiating to build a $30 billion oil pipeline, which would be the world's most expensive due to its proposed route through rugged terrain. The so-called Silk Road pipeline would link Russia’s Altai Mountain region to the Xinjiang province of China and northern India. Russia exports 70 percent of its oil, compared to 30 percent of its gas production, and its oil revenues are nearly seven times its gas revenues, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.
India is the third-largest oil importer in the world after the U.S. and China, as it relies on imports from the Middle East, and it's projected to become the world’s largest oil importer by 2020, according to the EIA. China and India’s economies have been among the world’s fastest-growing for the past two decades, and like China, India’s energy consumption has more than doubled since 1990. Unsurprisingly, India is aiming to secure additional energy imports and to diversify its energy supply.
continued... http://www.ibtimes.com/korea-india-japan-not-just-china-are-looking-russia-energy-1586361
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