Japan says sanctions on Russia will affect LNG project

TOKYO, Nov 7 (Reuters) - U.S. sanctions will have an impact on the Arctic LNG 2 project in Russia in which Japanese shareholders hold a combined 10% stake, Japan's industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Tuesday.

The project was important to ensure a stable supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for resource-poor Japan and the Japanese government will respond appropriately not to impair its energy supply, he said.

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"We believe that a certain degree of impact on the business is inevitable," Nishimura told a news conference.

"We will work with the Group of Seven (G7) countries to make a comprehensive judgment and respond appropriately so as not to impair the stable energy supply to our nation," he said.

Last Thursday, the United States imposed sweeping new measures against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, targeting a major entity involved in the development, operation and ownership of a massive project in Siberia known as Arctic LNG 2.

The project is operated by Russia's Novatek while Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co and state-owned Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) hold a combined 10% stake.

The project expected to ship the chilled natural gas to global markets.

Mitsui said on Friday it would examine the impact of the sanctions on the project and "take appropriate measures in cooperation with stakeholders including the Japanese government".

Mitsui's exposure to the Arctic LNG 2, including investments, loans and guarantees, was 249 billion yen ($1.7 billion) as of the end of September, after deducting a provision of 19.9 billion yen which has recorded for the guarantees, according to the company.

($1 = 150.1300 yen) (Reporting by Miho Uranaka and Mariko Katsumura; Writing by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Stephen Coates)