Russia"s Putin invites role for Shell in Sakhalin

Russia's RIA news agency says Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has invited Royal Dutch Shell PLS to enter in developing two oil fields on Sakhalin island.

The news agency quotes Putin as telling Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer that his company's participation in the Sakhalin 3 and Sakhalin 4 projects is "highly possible."

In 2007, Shell was forced to sell its controlling stake in Sakhalin 2 to state-controlled Gazprom for $7.5 billion as the Kremlin stepped up pressure on foreign energy companies in an effort to consolidate control over Russia's largest hydrocarbon deposits.