Japanese trading groups Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corporation have decided to retain their stakes in the Sakhalin-2 LNG project and join the new Russian entity, Sakhalin Energy, that took over the project following the decision of Russia to take full control of the 12 Mt/year LNG project in July 2022.
Earlier in August 2022, the Russian government had established Sakhalin Energy as the new operator of the Sakhalin-2 LNG liquefaction project. Russian company Gazprom is set to receive a 50% plus one share in the project, and the remaining 49.9% will be owned by Sakhalin Energy, with other shareholders (Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi) required to apply for a stake in the project.
Prior to the takeover, the project, located in the far eastern oblast of Sakhalin, was owned by a joint venture of Gazprom (50% plus one share), Shell (27.5% minus one share), Mitsui (12.5%) and Mitsubishi (10%). Shell expressed its intention to withdraw from the project as early as March 2022.