Crude oil and natural gas from overseas, including Russia, are important for Japan’s energy security, the country’s economy ministry told Reuters this week, noting the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East.
“Japan government continues to recognize that securing energy from overseas, including the Sakhalin Project, is extremely important for Japan’s energy security,” the statement said. “We will take necessary measures to ensure that Japan’s stable energy supply is not compromised,” the ministry also said.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry was responding to a question by Reuters regarding the latest U.S. sanctions on Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer and a shareholder in the Sakhalin-1 project, which also has the Japanese economy ministry as a shareholder. The project used to be operated by Exxon, but the supermajor left Russia in 2022.
Rosneft has 20% in Sakhalin-1, India’s ONGC Videsh holds another 20%, and a Japanese consortium comprising the economy ministry and several energy companies holds 30%. When the sanction barrage on Russia started following its invasion of Ukraine, the Japanese companies and the ministry were granted an exemption from the punitive action due to the country’s overwhelming dependence on foreign energy commodities.
Since then, Japanese government officials have repeatedly stated Japan would find it difficult to quit Russian energy. Besides Sakhalin-1, which exports crude oil to Japan, the country also buys liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin-2 project. Russian LNG accounts for about 9% of Japan’s total liquefied natural gas imports. Utility JERA imports the gas from Sakhalin-2 under contracts expiring in 2026 and 2029
Last month, following President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Japan stop buying Russian energy commodities, the government reiterated its stance, with the economy minister noting the country had been “steadily reducing its dependence on Russian energy.”
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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