TOKYO: The Sakhalin-1 oil and natural gas development project in Russia’s Far East will be put under the jurisdiction of Russia, a senior Russian lawmaker said Thursday.

Pavel Zavalny, who chairs the energy committee of the State Duma, the lower chamber of Russia’s parliament, also offered his view that the project, in which a Japanese public-private joint venture participates, will be treated like the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, according to Russia’s state-run ITAR-Tass news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to effectively seize control of the Sakhalin-2 project.

Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that no specific decision has been made on the Sakhalin-1 project.

In the Sakhalin-1 project, Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co., jointly held mainly by the Japanese government, trading houses Itochu Corp. and Marubeni Corp., and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., owns a 30 pct stake.

In March, US oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. announced its withdrawal from the project in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

JIJI Press