Dossiers BRICS Silk Road / Route de la soie Back to previous selection / Retour à la sélection précédente Japan and India Going Forward on Russia’s Sakhalin Oil and Gas Project 16 November 2022 EIRNS—Russia’s extensive oil and gas development at their Sakhalin Project in their Far East, finds Japan and India onboard, as reported by RT. After ExonMobil, the previous operator and an owner of a 30% stake, exited from the project, President Putin disbanded Exxon NefteGaz, last month transferring all its assets and equipment to a Rosneft subsidiary, Sakhalinmorneftegaz-Shelf. Yesterday, the Russian government announced that India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Japan’s Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co (SODECO) could keep their stakes in the project, respectively 20% and 30%. The project is vital for Japan’s energy security, as presently around 95% of its oil imports are from Southwest Asia. Japanese government officials have been urging their private sector to stay in the project. Now, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno is calling the decision “extremely significant from the perspective of our country’s mid- to long-term stable energy supply.” And Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, according to Reuters, earlier said: “Sakhalin-1 is extremely important for Japan’s energy security as it is a valuable source outside of the Middle East.” [dms]