JAPEX regards its natural gas pipeline network as an important strategic asset vital to increasing gas sales volume. In line with this thinking, we are constructing new pipelines to expand our marketing area. In February 2005, we completed a new pipeline extending from the Yufutsu oil and gas field in Hokkaido to the city of Tomakomai, and began supplying gas.
On the main island of Honshu, construction was completed on a 96 kilometers extension of a 16-inch diameter pipeline from the Shiroishi valve station along the Niigata-Sendai pipeline, to Koriyama via the city of Fukushima in March 2007. JAPEX began supplying gas to Fukushima Gas Co., Ltd. and Tobu Gas Co., Ltd., and is continuing with efforts to open up new markets, targeting mainly industrial users along the pipeline.
JAPEX is also formulating a plan to supply natural gas to meet demand in the coastal areas of southern Fukushima prefecture. We have launched a full-scale survey for the construction of a 20 to 24-inch diameter undersea pipeline extending approximately 160 kilometers from the outskirts of Sendai to an area near Iwaki in Fukushima prefecture. We plan to begin supplies in early 2011.