Japanese firms join eastern Siberian oil, gas exploration projects

Japan's largest oil explorer Inpex Corporation and major trading house Itochu Corporation said they have jointly participated in exploration projects in two oilfields in eastern Siberia. The two firms have bought stakes in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the government-affiliated Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), which has been conducting oil and gas exploration works in the Zapadno-Yaraktinsky and Bolshetirsky blocks, both in Russia's Irkutsk Oblast, the two firms said in a press release. As a result of the acquisition, Inpex now owns 12.4 percent and Itochu 12.6 percent, respectively, of the JOGMEC subsidiary's shares. The subsidiary has a 49 percent stake in the joint venture between its Russian partner of Irkutsk Oil Company, the press release said. The joint venture had been conducting exploration operations in these two blocks, where the oil and gas reserves had already been discovered as a result of exploration activities. The Zapadno-Yaraktinsky and Bolshetirsky blocks, both onshore, located about 700 kilometers north of Irkutsk city and cover the area of some 4,800 square kilometers and 3,300 square kilometers respectively