Japanese MOL renewed the contract with the new Sakhalin-2 operator

TOKYO, Oct 5 – PRIME. The Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has renegotiated a contract with the new operator of Sakhalin-2 LLC Sakhalin Energy for the transportation of LNG by the Grand Mereya tanker, the Japanese company said on its official website.

“Through its subsidiary Mitsui OSK Lines terminated the contract between the former Sakhalin-2 operator Sakhalin Energy and the LNG tanker Grand Mereya and entered into a long-term contract with the new operator Sakhalin Energy LLC on October 4. Thus, we will be able to continue providing transportation services,” the company said in a statement.

On August 3, the Government of the Russian Federation decided to create a new Sakhalin-2 operator represented by Sakhalin Energy LLC with registration in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The new operator was created on August 5 with a 50% stake in Gazprom Sakhalin Holding. The Russian government allowed the Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi to transfer their shares in the project (12.5% ​​and 10%, respectively). Shell, which accounted for the remaining 27.5%, has already said it will not participate in the new operator.

Sakhalin-2 is an oil and gas project that develops two oil and gas fields in the northeast of the Sakhalin shelf – Piltun-Astokhskoye (mainly oil) and Lunskoye (mainly gas). Its infrastructure includes, in particular, a gas liquefaction plant with a design capacity of 9.6 million tons per year. This production gives Japan about 9% of all LNG it imports. The country’s government has repeatedly emphasized the importance of Sakhalin-2 for ensuring stable gas supplies to Japan at reasonable prices.