The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been at pains over recent weeks to emphasize its commitment to the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 energy projects with Russia. Both multinational ventures invest in oil and gas imports produced in Russia’s Far East, with Japanese imports from Sakhalin-1 weighted more toward oil and Sakhalin-2 toward liquefied natural gas (LNG).
However, as other Group of Seven countries and private enterprises step up efforts to oppose Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, Japan’s involvement in the Sakhalin-1 project is now under particular scrutiny.
Following a virtual meeting of G7 leaders in early May, Kishida told reporters that Japan would join other nations in gradually phasing out Russian oil. The government would conduct the move “in a manner that minimizes adverse effects on people’s lives and business activities,” he said, “but we plan to keep our interests (in the two Sakhalin projects) unchanged.”