Minister Viktor Khristenko held a meeting Monday with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso to discuss cooperation in energy and other sectors. Both ministers head the Russian-Japanese intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation.
Khristenko said the Japanese market "fits in with the strategy Russia is implementing in the east."
He said Russia has already approved a program of auctions on natural deposits in East Siberia, which will be named later this year.
"We are interested in foreign investors," Khristenko said. "Supplementary exploration makes us realize that we can open new deposits, which will provide for the construction of the second stage [of the ESPO]."
The East Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline is slated to pump up to 1.6 million barrels per day of crude from Siberia to Russia's Far East, of which about 605,000 bbl/d will then be sent on to China and the Asia-Pacific region via the offshoot.
The first stage of the ESPO was launched last April and was initially scheduled for completion in the second half of 2008. It will link Taishet, in the Eastern Siberian region of Irkutsk, to Skovorodino, in the Amur Region.
The second stage will involve the construction of a Skovorodino-Kozmino pipeline, to pump 367.5 million barrels per year, and an increase in the Taishet-Skovorodino pipeline's capacity to 588 million barrels annually.
Vladimir Salamatov, the director of ministry's department for investment and innovation policy, said the officials discussed to what extension Japanese companies would like to participate on tenders for new natural deposits in East Siberia.
"Both sides stressed that Japan has an interest, while Russia offers enough attractive proposals for investors to come there," Salamatov said.
He added that no concrete agreements were reached during today's talks.
