Route change mooted for Exxon pipeline

In another sign of shifting energy demand, and Japan's creeping trend of hollowing out as manufacturing shifts to China, Exxon Mobil Corp was reported negotiating a deal with China National Petroleum Corp under which all natural gas from the offshore Sakhalin-1 site will be shipped to China rather than Japan. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said such a deal would make for a radical departure from original plans to sell all of its natural gas to Japan by building a direct 1,500km pipeline.