Regional LNG: Tohoku Electric mulls buying LNG from Sakhalin

Tohoku Electric Power Co. President Keiichi Makuta on Wednesday suggested that the company will examine procuring liquefied natural gas from a gas field being developed off Russia's Sakhalin island, Jiji Press reported.

The LNG developed at the Sakhalin gas field is worth procuring since freight costs would be cheap due to the area's proximity to Japan, Makuta said in a press conference.

But no business negotiations are underway and Tohoku Electric is only gathering information at this stage, Makuta said.

Based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Tohoku Electric supplies power mainly to the northeastern Japan region of Tohoku.

The Sakhalin field is being developed by a consortium of British-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell and two Japanese traders, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp., in a project named Sakhalin-2.(*)