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Gazprom and Mitsui signed a framework agreement on September 7 where both firms agreed to collaborate in the production, transport and marketing of small- and mid-scale LNG in Japan, as well as in LNG bunkering in the Sea of Japan.

The agreement was signed during a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Masami Iijima, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., which took place at the Eastern Economic Forum 2017 in Vladivostok.

The accord comes almost a year to the day since both companies signed a memorandum to jointly collaborate in LNG bunkering studies in the Asia-Pacific region during last year's Eastern Economic Forum.

Last year's memorandum was followed in December 2016 by the signing of an agreement of strategic cooperation that included the LNG bunkering of ships and the Sakhalin II project expansion.

Three months ago, Gazprom and Mitsui also discussed the progress of LNG bunkering feasibility studies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Gazprom and Mitsui are partners in the Sakhalin II project, which includes Russia's only active LNG plant. Sakhalin II is operated by Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd, which is owned by Gazprom (50 percent plus one share), Shell (27.5 percent minus one share), Mitsui (12.5 percent), and Mitsubishi (10 percent).

In 2016, the LNG plant produced upward of 10.9 million tonnes of LNG, exceeding the design capacity by over 1.3 million tonnes.