U.S. never pressured Japan to exit Sakhalin energy projects -minister
TOKYO, April 12 (Reuters) - Japan has never felt any pressure from the United States to exit oil and gas projects on Russia's Sakhalin island in which Japanese companies own stake, the industry minister said on Tuesday.
We intend to continue to hold the concessions in Sakhalin 1 and 2 projects as they are stable sources of long-term and inexpensive energy and are important to the lives of the Japanese citizens and business activities, Koichi Hagiuda, Japan's industry minister, told a news conference.
I have never felt any pressure by the United States to withdraw from the Sakhalin projects, Hagiuda said when asked about any U.S. pressure.
The United States understands the importance of energy security based on the circumstances of each country, he said.
The Ukraine crisis has put Japan's involvement in the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 oil and gas projects in sharp focus since Western oil majors have said they would pull out of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Russia calls its actions there a special military operation.
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