MOSCOW, September 9 (RAPSI) - A court in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk overturned lower court rulings dismissing a lawsuit which had been filed by Rosneft over access to Sakhalin-II pipeline, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday.

Sakhalin Energy, controlled by Gazprom, is the operator of the Sakhalin-II oil and gas project in the Russian Far East.

Rosneft wants to get access to the pipeline to reduce spending on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which it is implementing jointly with ExxonMobil. Gazprom, turned down the request, saying that it planned to expand its own LNG plant within the Sakhalin-II project.

Rosneft said it needed access to the pipe to transport up to 8 billion cubic meters of gas annually from its fields in northern Sakhalin to an LNG plant it planned to build jointly with its partners on the south of the island. Sakhalin Energy rejected the request on the grounds that it lacked the extra capacity.

The Sakhalin Region Court of Appeals ruled against Rosneft in February, pointing to the prejudicial nature of the lawsuit against Sakhalin Energy. The court said that the declaration of intent in which Rosneft and ExxonMobil are cited as investors in the planned Far Eastern LNG plant, as well as the municipal authorities’ framework decisions on a site for the plant, do not necessarily mean that the plant will be built.

Sakhalin-2 is one of the world's largest integrated oil and gas projects. It includes the Piltun-Astokhskoye oilfield and the Lunskoye natural gas field off Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk and onshore infrastructure.