TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) – Itochu Corp, Marubeni Corp and other firms will place their Sakhalin 1 project on high gear next month, starting drilling for crude oil off the coast of Sakhalin at a cost of US$4.6 billion, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. The project participants, led by Exxon Mobil Corp and Sakhalin Oil and Gas…