Mitsui, Mitsubishi to sell Sakhalin shares to Gazprom. Check it out:
(Yomiuri Shimbun, The (Tokyo) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) TOKYO _ Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. are selling part of their stakes in Sakhalin Energy, which operates the Sakhalin-2 oil development project, to Russia's state-run gas company Gazprom, according to sources.
Holdings to be sold by Mitsui equal a 3 percent stake in Sakhalin Energy. Mitsui holds 25 percent of the Russian enterprise.
Meanwhile, shareholdings to be sold by Mitsubishi, which has a 20 percent stake in Sakhalin Energy, are equivalent to a 2 percent stake.
The two companies apparently aim to ease pressure from the Russian government, which is trying to bring the country's entire energy industry under its control, and disperse the financial burden for the development program, expected to cost up to 2.3 trillion yen.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which owns a 55 percent stake in Sakhalin Energy, is negotiating with Russia over the possible handover of a 20 percent stake to Gazprom.
If the deals go through, Gazprom will become the second-largest shareholder with a 25 percent stake in the project-operating firm.
Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi jointly set up Sakhalin Energy in 1994, with Mitsui and Mitsubishi investing 25 percent and 20 percent of the firm's capital, respectively.
The Russian government has been pushing for Gazprom to participate in the project, which was launched during the chaotic period following the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Russia apparently wanted to sustain interest in the project, which has since been wholly owned by foreign companies, and strengthen its control over it.
In July 2005, Shell, which owns a 55 percent stake, and Gazprom agreed that Shell would hand over about 25 percent of its shareholdings to Gazprom, but the negotiations have stalled since then.
Mitsui and Mitsubishi apparently decided to hand over part of their stakes to Gazprom because they believe the Russian firm's participation in the project would contribute to its stable progress.
Russian Ambassador to Japan Alexander Losyukov admitted Wednesday that negotiations between Russia and Shell were still under way.
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(c) 2006, The Yomiuri Shimbun.
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