MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. Shell has informed the Russian government and Sakhalin Energy partners that it will not participate in the new operator of Sakhalin-2 project, LLC Sakhalin Energy, Shell said in a statement.

The company has not made a decision yet on the fate of its contract for the purchase of LNG from the project, and is considering various options.

"Shell will not participate in the new company established by order of the Russian government as the operator of the Sakhalin-2 LNG project. We have notified the Russian federal government and our Sakhalin Energy Investment partners that we will not receive a stake in the new legal entity and we reserve all our legal rights," the statement said.

The company states that the refusal to participate in the new Sakhalin-2 operator will not affect its ability to provide gas to customers in accordance with existing obligations.

Shell said it was monitoring the situation with the contract to buy liquefied natural gas from the project.

On August 2, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed the decree on establishment of the Sakhalin Energy LLC, the new operator of the Sakhalin 2 oil and gas project. The company is registered in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

In accordance with the executive order of the Russian President signed on June 30, Sakhalin Energy [previous operator - TASS] shareholders should agree to take participation interests in the created company in proportion to interests in the previous operator within one month. The controlling stake (50% plus 1 share) in Sakhalin Energy belongs to Gazprom, Shell has 27.5% of the shares, Mitsui and Mitsubishi own 12.5% and 10% respectively.