YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, September 22. /ITAR-TASS/. US energy giant ExxonMobil will continue participating in Sakhalin oil and gas projects off Russia’s Pacific coast, a source in the Sakhalin Region administration said on Monday.

“The media reports claiming that the administration may buy Exxon’s stakes in the Sakhalin projects are not true,” the source said.

Sources close to the Sakhalin authorities earlier reported that ExxonMobil might sell its stake in the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project due to the US sanctions imposed against Russian companies over Moscow’s stance on developments in neighboring Ukraine.

The source also said that the project by Russia’s oil major Rosneft to build a liquefied natural gas plant in the Russian Far East could be transferred to the existing Sakhalin-1 project to avoid US sanctions.

The sectoral sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union against the Russian energy sector apply only to new projects.