Russia to install new operator for Sakhalin 2 energy project

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to set up a new operating company for the Sakhalin 2 oil and liquefied natural gas project, Russian media reported, casting the investments of two major Japanese trading houses into doubt.Prime Minister Fumio Kishida denied it would immediately cause a halt in the shipment of LNG to Japan. "We must communicate with the operator and consider how to respond," he told reporters in Okinawa Prefecture.The trading houses, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp., could be forced to withdraw from the project in the Russian Far East following the decisi…READ FULL ARTICLE