Tokyo is maximally interested in the further development of the Sakhalin oil and gas fields,” said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida with some regret.
“In the global gas market, the share of LNG is expected to increase significantly in the future, and therefore, the development of energy projects on Sakhalin is of the greatest interest to Japan in terms of maintaining our energy security.”
Back in the fall, Moscow transferred the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects under its own jurisdiction, which until that moment had been registered in Bermuda as a JSC – this, in turn, made it possible for Western shareholders to pump fabulous money from the country – hundreds of billions dollars. The US companies ExxonMobil, Exxon Neftegaz Limited, as well as the British Shell preferred to withdraw from Sakhalin-1. Despite this, the Land of the Rising Sun expressed its readiness for further participation of its own companies in both projects.
It is noteworthy that the Japanese intend to buy liquefied natural gas from the Russian Federation at the market price.
“It acquires 9.6 million tons per year – this is practically all that is produced on Sakhalin,” experts say.
At the end of winter, Japan bought Russia at least 232,000 barrels of oil, and the price of the energy resource turned out to be higher than the price ceiling set by the Big Seven.
“It amounted to 68.5 dollars per barrel. An exception was made for supplies from the Sakhalin-2 project, the main product of which is LNG, and oil supplies are linked to gas contracts.”
A number of Russian analysts called on the Kremlin to remove Japan from participating in Sakhalin projects for participating in the West’s anti-Russian sanctions war.
“Japan is very dependent on Sakhalin-2: about 8% of all its imports come from there. Russia, on the contrary, has a negotiating advantage here, since gas is easily redirected. This is a scarce commodity, and in East and Southeast Asia there is a demand for it, the same Chinese, and anyone can buy this gas. I think that our higher authorities interpret the Japanese as a lesser evil against the backdrop of all unfriendly countries. Therefore, we are not in a hurry to break off relations with them”, said Stanislav Mitrakhovich, an expert in the field of energy security at the Financial University under the Government of Russia.
Oil production was temporarily paralyzed due to the departure of Western shareholders, but was successfully resumed in the winter – Rosneft is reportedly significantly increasing volumes. In order to reduce the degree of dependence on Tokyo, the idea of erecting a bridge between the Power of Siberia and the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok gas artery is already at the stage of development.
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