Future Of British Business
Russia’s Move on Gas Plant Intensifies Competition for Fuel
- Biggest buyer Japan is considering alternative sources of gas
- Europe already is trying to replace Russian flows due to war
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Russia’s move to reshuffle ownership of the Sakhalin-2 natural gas project may constrict global markets even more by pushing Japan to compete with Europe for alternative sources of supply.
President Vladimir Putin’s decree to transfer rights for the plant to a new Russian company has no immediate impact on the project’s biggest customer, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. A Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, also said there is no threat to LNG supplies from the plant at the moment. Japanese trading houses Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. own a combined 22.5% of the project.