TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese government has not yet received word that a new Russian company set to operate the oil and gas Sakhalin-2 project has been established, industry minister Koichi Hagiuda said on Tuesday.
“We will decide on our next steps once the terms of getting involved in the new company are made clear,” he added.
A decree issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin in late June that seizes control of gas and oil project Sakhalin-2 via a new company has threatened to cut off a crucial source of gas supplies for Japan.
(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Editing by Kim Coghill)