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Japan firm confirms plan to develop major gas field near Australia
AFP
TOKYO
Petroleumworld.com 04 10 06Top Japanese energy company Inpex Holdings said Monday it plans to invest up to six billion dollars to produce natural gas off the west coast of Australia from 2012.
The project is expected to produce about five million to six million tons a year, or about 10 percent of Japan's total annual gas imports, according to a spokesman who declined to be identified, confirming a weekend news report.
Inpex, which was created on April 3 through the merger of Inpex Corp and Teikoku Oil Co, aims to pump the gas from the Ixis field about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off the west coast of Australia.
The move comes amid intensifying competition between Japan and other countries, particularly China, to secure stable gas supplies.
Japan, one of the world's top energy importers, is embroiled in a territorial dispute with Beijing over potentially lucrative gas fields in a part of the East China Sea.
AFP 04 10 06 0752 GMTCopyright © 1994-2006 Agence France-Presse. All Rights Reserved.
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