(Adds timing, background)

MOSCOW, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom <GAZP.MM> is likely to announce a cash deal to join Royal Dutch Shell's <RDSa.L> Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project on Thursday, industrial sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer would make his third trip to Moscow in as many weeks on Thursday to meet Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, whose firm will pay cash to buy half of the venture.

One source close to the talks has said Shell will also secure future cooperation with Gazprom as part of the deal, which may extrench the two firms' partnership in liquefied natural gas beyond Sakhalin-2, the world's biggest LNG project.

Other sources close to the talks have said Shell's Japanese partners Mitsui <8031.T> and Mitsubishi <8058.T> are seeking cash only.

Shell owns 55 percent of Sakhalin-2 and Mitsui and Mitsubishi have 25 and 20 percent respectively.

But the project has run far over budget, and a doubling of costs to $22 billion last year allowed Gazprom to force its way in, securing state control over the only big energy venture that remained entirely in foreign hands.

Under an initial deal, Shell was to swap 25 percent in Sakhalin-2 for a stake in Gazprom's Zapolyarnoye field. But the budget overrun and Russian officials' threats to the project undermined Shell's position allowing Gazprom to drive a harder bargain, analysts have said.

Gazprom's chairman has said the company is looking to get around 50 percent, while sources have told Reuters that Shell will give up 30 percent and the Japanese firms 10 percent each.

Analysts say Shell badly needs assets since it has one of the worst reserves replacement records in its peer group, while a financial settlement is not what the cash-rich firm needs.

Both Gazprom and Shell have said they hope to get a deal this week, but neither has said how much Gazprom will pay or whether it will offer to cover some of the $10 billion that Shell says it has already spent.

Both Gazprom and Shell declined to comment on Wednesday.

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