Financial Times
By David Pilling in Tokyo
Published: January 3 2005 05:12 | Last updated: January 3 2005 05:12
Russia will by May draw up detailed plans for the financing and construction of an estimated $11.5bn oil pipeline to the Pacific following a decision over the new year to adopt a Japanese-proposed route over one that would have favoured China.
The long-expected decision to build the pipeline from eastern Siberia to the Pacific, from where oil can easily be transported to Japan, will be seen as a diplomatic victory for Tokyo over Beijing.
Japan and China have begun to tussle fiercely over energy resources since China recently outpaced Japan as the world’s second biggest consumer, though not yet importer, of crude oil.
Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s prime minister, personally lobbied for the Pacific route over the original plan to pipe oil to Daqing, China’s traditional energy centre in the north-east.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1045c444-5d46-11d9-ac01-00000e2511c8.htmlGOOD LUCK to them...maybe this will happen before Putin finally cracks over the Yukos mess he's brought on himself...