Gazprom mulls electric power projects

Russian energy giant Gazprom is looking at the prospects for electric power projects in Japan with local supply companies, Gazprom said on Thursday. Talks took place in Tokyo between Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev and the heads of Japan's electric power companies Mitsui, Mitsubishi and TEPCO, Gazprom said without specifying when. "The meeting discussed Russian-Japanese energy cooperation. Special attention was paid to the supplies of gas to Japan under the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, and the possibility for Gazprom to take part in electricity projects in Japan," Gazprom said in a statement. Japan is the world's fourth largest energy consumer but has no energy resources of its own. The country is the world's largest consumer of liquefied natural gas. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant crippled by the disastrous earthquake and tsunami, which hit the country on March 11, suffered record high losses of 1.25 trillion yen or about $15 billion in the 2010-2011 fiscal year ending on March 31.