Report: Mitsubishi to stay in Sakhalin-2 project under new operator

TOKYO, Aug 25 (PRIME) -- Japan’s Mitsubishi corporation will not quit liquefied natural gas (LNG) project Sakhalin-2 under the new operator company, while the other Japanese participants are to notify Russia of their decisions until the end of August, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported on Thursday.

“Mitsubishi Corporation decided on August 25 to notify publish its decision to participate in the new operator of the Sakhalin-2 project in Russia’s Far East. Mitsui & Co. also decided to adhere to the track of notification (of the Russian side) about its participation. Both companies should announce their decisions until the end of the month given detailed analysis of the Russian side’s actions,” Nikkei reported.

Tokyo’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in a news conference that the government had been notified about the intent of Mitsubishi and Mitsui to stay in Sakhalin-2 and that the authorities would closely track the situation further.

Earlier in August, the Russian government signed a regulation to establish Sakhalinskaya Energiya (Sakhalin Energy) LLC in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk that became a new operator of the Sakhalin-2 project on August 19.

Russian gas giant Gazprom owned 50% plus one share in the previous operator, while Shell had a stake of 27.5% minus one share, and Japan’s Mitsui and Mitsubishi had the stakes of 12.5% and 10%, respectively. The government allowed all the companies to receive the same stakes in the new operator that they had in the old one.

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