Japan may invest $10 billion in Russian oil firm Rosneft: Nikkei

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will propose a broad cooperation in the energy sector with Russia that could include a nearly $10 billion investment in Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday.

The report comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a two-day business conference beginning Friday in Vladivostok.

The two are expected to discuss closer cooperation in such areas as energy and technology, with Japan hoping to strengthen economic ties and create a breakthrough in a decades-long territorial dispute.

The Nikkei said the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is considering investing as much as 1 trillion yen ($9.7 billion) to buy 10 percent of Rosneft through the government-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp, or Jogmec.

In addition, Japan will consider joint surveys for oil and gas projects in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. It will also seek technical cooperation in decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the site of the 2011 nuclear disaster, the paper said.

METI was not immediately available for comment.

METI Minister Hiroshige Seko, the newly appointed minister for economic cooperation with Russia, is accompanying Abe on the trip to Vladivostok.

($1 = 103.1600 yen)

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher, additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi, editing by Richard Pullin)

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