Photo/Illutration A liquefied natural gas processing plant for the Sakhalin-2 project in 2009 (Pool)

WASHINGTON--The Sakhalin-2, an oil and gas extraction project two Japanese trading companies have a stake in, will not be affected by new global sanctions soon to be imposed on Russian petroleum exports.

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Nov. 22 that the Group of Seven nations will soon announce the actual figure of its collective price cap on Russian petroleum exports aimed at squeezing its war chest for its ongoing battle with Ukraine.

The sanctions are expected to take effect from Dec. 5, but the plan revealed by the Treasury Department includes a temporary exemption for petroleum shipped to Japan from the Sakhalin-2 project until the end of September 2023.

Although Russia announced in June that the Sakhalin-2 would be transferred to a new operator, it later allowed the trading companies Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. to maintain their stakes in the new company. Japan imports liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin-2.

Petroleum prices around the world surged in the wake of the February invasion of Ukraine, producing higher earnings than normal for Moscow.

But introducing restrictions on shipping and maritime insurance for oil traded above the price cap would, in effect, stop exports out of Russia.

Negotiations are continuing with European Union nations about where to cap the price. But U.S. media reports suggest it will land at about $60 (8,300 yen) per barrel.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, an international index, currently trades at around $80.

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