THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Tokyo Gas Exec: Gazprom Leads On Sakhalin II Stake Talk: “On Monday, Shell said it was in talks with Gazprom, but also other companies to sell a stake in the $12 billion project.” (ShellNews.net) Posted 16 March 05
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BILBAO, Spain -- Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd. (9531.TO) would be interested in buying a stake in the Sakhalin II gas project, but believes Russia's Gazprom OAO (GSPBEX.RS) has the strongest chance to clinch the deal, a company executive told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday.
Speaking on the sidelines at the Gastech conference in Bilbao, Tadaaki Maeda, chief executive of the Japanese utilities company's energy resources division, said "Gazprom is already in talks" to get shares in the project led by Royal Dutch/Shell (RD, SC), adding it leaves few chances for Tokyo Gas.
On Monday, Shell said it was in talks with Gazprom, but also other companies to sell a stake in the $12 billion project.
Sakhalin Energy is 55% controlled by Shell . Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (MITSY) owns 25% and Mitsubishi Corp. (8058.TO) the remaining 20%.
Last month, Tokyo Gas already signed a contract with Sakhalin Energy Company Ltd. - which operates Sakhalin II - for the supply of 1.1 million metric tons a year of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, for a period of 24 years.
But Maeda said during the conference that the company wants to invest into upstream production projects.
The Tokyo Gas executive also reiterated his company is in talks to get supply from the Sakhalin I project, which is operated by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM).
"But there are still issues to be discussed regarding the price and the technical terms," Maeda said.
Company Web sites: http://www.shell.com
-By Benoit Faucon, Dow Jones Newswires, +44-20-7842-9266; benoit.faucon@dowjones.com