Steve, we received a request from METI in Tokyo last Friday to arrange a 
meeting in Houston for Mr Hirata from METI to discuss gas issues. The meeting 
was largely driven by the travel schedule of Mr Hirata rather than a specific 
need to meet with Enron. I query whether this is the same enquiry, via a 
different channel, that you mentioned this morning. We asked Robert 
Neustaedter to meet with Mr Hirata. The meeting took place today in Houston.

In any event, I attach a copy of a presentation given by Joe to METI last 
month which reflects our current thinking on gas issues in Japan.

I will let you know what the outcome of the Houston meeting.
  
kind regards 
 
---------------------- Forwarded by Nicholas O'Day/AP/Enron on 05/02/2001 
04:38 PM ---------------------------


Robert Neustaedter@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT
04/27/2001 11:54 PM
To: Mark Crowther/AP/Enron@ENRON
cc: Nicholas O'Day/AP/Enron@Enron, Harry Kingerski/NA/Enron@Enron 

Subject: Re: Visit by METI Director  

Mark,

I would be happy to share Enron's US regulatory experience with Mr. Hirata.  
May 2 would probably work better for me, if possible.  If you could advise on 
issues specific to Mr. Hirata's interests, that would  allow me to gather any 
information that may be of relevance and provide a more focused discussion.

Thanks
Robert





	Mark Crowther@ENRON
	04/27/2001 12:47 AM
		 
		 To: robert.neustaedter@enron.com
		 cc: Nicholas O'Day/AP/Enron@Enron
		 Subject: Visit by METI Director

Robert,

I am writing to see whether you can help us out with a sudden request that we 
have had from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). A 
Mr. Hirata, Director of Oil and Natural Gas Division, Resources and Fuel 
Department in METI is in Houston early next week and would like to visit 
Enron to talk about gas market and pipeline investment issues. He is not 
responsible for gas deregulation but plays a role in the potential 
development of a gas pipeline into northern Japan from Russia (the Sakhalin 
line), bearing some relation therefore to E-Power's (Enron asset development 
subsidiary in Japan) plans for a gas-fired power plant in the North.

Would it be possible for you to meet him informally for an hour on 1 or 2 
May? We appreciated the amount of work that you put into the presentation for 
our main METI gas contact Mr. Ueda last year. This time, we would not expect 
a formal presentation from you, given the short notice and our limited 
contact with Mr. Hirata. Also, Mr. Hirata appears happy just to discuss 
issues informally.

For your information, I attach a presentation that Joe Hirl made at a recent 
Government gas deregulation committee explaining Enron's views on 
deregulation of the Japanese gas market. I'm sure you will recognize a number 
of the slides.

Could you let me know of the possibility of this meeting? I will also try to 
phone you later to answer any comments you may have. Thank you for your help.

Best regards
Mark Crowther
Manager, Public Affairs
Enron Japan