MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti) - A Japanese diplomat said Thursday his country planned to sign a framework agreement with Russia on the construction of a pipeline to the Pacific coast by the end of 2006.
"Japan primarily buys oil from the Middle East at present (about 88% of oil imports)," the head of the economic department at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow said. "If Russia supplied Japan with about 50 million tons [1 million bbl/d] of oil annually, it would significantly reduce our dependency on the Middle East."
"Japanese companies are willing to buy Russian oil in large quantities," he said, adding that the oil from deposits in East Siberia was of good quality.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said last December that the construction of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline was of strategic importance for both Japan and Russia.
