MOSCOW, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday that a new shareholder of the liquefied natural gas project Sakhalin-2 in the Pacific will be named by the end of the year to replace Shell, the Interfax news agency reported.

Shell said earlier this year that it would exit its 27.5% stake in the project, writing off an investment with a book value of $1.6 billion. (Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Louise Heavens)