Bloomberg: Koizumi Wants to Resolve Island Dispute With Putin: “In Sakhalin, Japanese companies are investing in at least two of five oil and gas projects that may spend $50 billion to supply Northeast Asia and the U.S. Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the biggest publicly traded oil companies, lead three of the ventures.” (Update1) Nov. 17 2005

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he wants to resolve a territorial dispute over four of the Kuril Islands when he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.

``I want to have a solution to the issue of the Northern Territories and reach a mutual understanding on a peace treaty,'' Koizumi told reporters at a regular briefing in Tokyo today.

Japan's proposal for an oil pipeline from west Siberia to the Pacific coast and joint development of Sakhalin are among other topics on the agenda when Putin visits Japan Nov. 20-22, Hideji Sugiyama, Japan's vice trade minister, said today.

Putin in September said there is no negotiation concerning the sovereignty of the islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japanese. The row over the islands, located north of Japan, has blocked the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries 60 years after the end of World War II.

Japan, Asia's second-largest consumer of oil, wants access to Russian oil to help reduce its dependence on supplies from the Middle East.

``We want to expand our exchanges and build mutual confidence between our countries,'' Koizumi said.

Russia, which now sells most of its oil in Europe, is negotiating with Japan and China on the direction of the pipeline to export Siberian oil. Japan is lobbying for a 4,100-kilometer (2,563 mile) link to Perevoznaya on Russia's Pacific coast while China wants a 2,400-kilometer pipeline to Daqing in northern China.

In Sakhalin, Japanese companies are investing in at least two of five oil and gas projects that may spend $50 billion to supply Northeast Asia and the U.S. Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the biggest publicly traded oil companies, lead three of the ventures.

Japan's trade ministry is trying to set up a meeting between Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai and his Russian counterpart Viktor Khristenko, who will accompany Putin to Japan, Sugiyama said.

To contact the reporter on this story:

Lindsay Whipp in Tokyo at lwhipp1@bloomberg.net.

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