JERA Japan says sanctions against Gazprombank will not affect its LNG supply

JERA's president stated that the new U.S. sanction on Gazprombank will not affect its purchase of liquefied gas from Russia's Sakhalin-2 Project, because it does no use the lender to settle payments.

Last week, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia's Gazprombank as part of an effort to punish Moscow for its invasion in Ukraine. The sanctions include a ban on any new energy transactions that would touch upon the U.S. Financial System, among other restrictions.

Hisahide OKuda (JERA president) told a Wednesday press briefing that the U.S. sanctions against Gazprombank had no effect on our procurement, as we do not use this Russian bank to settle for Sakhalin-2.

JERA is one of the largest buyers of LNG from Sakhalin-2. It has two contracts for the project: a 0.5 million tons per year deal that runs until 2026 and a 1.5 million tons per year contract that expires in 2029.

Gazprombank, one of Russia's biggest banks, is owned in part by the Kremlin-owned Gazprom. Sanctions were lifted for transactions related the Sakhalin-2 Project until June 28, 2025.

Yoji Muto, Japan's Minister of Industry, said that the country will take all measures possible to ensure a stable LNG supply coming from Sakhalin-2 in the wake of the new sanctions. (Reporting and writing by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Jan Harvey).

(source: Reuters)