TOKYO, March 23 (Reuters) - Japan Petroleum Association

President Shunichi Kito said on Monday that North America was

one potential source for alternative crude oil supply to the

Middle East, with Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico also possible

options.

Kito, who is also chairman of Japan's second-biggest oil

refiner, Idemitsu Kosan ( IDKOF ) , added that there were no

plans for Japan to source Russian crude oil other than from the

Sakhalin 2 project.