RusEnergy

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, October 1 (RIA Novosti, Pyotr Tsyrendorzhiev) - The Sakhalin-I international oil and natural gas project began production in Russia's Far East Saturday, a local press spokesman said.A platform on the northeastern coast of the Sakhalin Island began pumping hydrocarbons from the Chaivo field on the shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk to the Komsomolsk-on-Amur and De-Kastri terminals in the Khabarovsk region. Senior energy and industry officials, including Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko, Indian Energy Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, Japanese Deputy Economic, Trade, and Industry Minister Hirata Koichi, and Sakhalin Governor Ivan Malakhov attended the inaugural event. The Sakhalin-I project, an international consortium comprised of operator Exxon Neftegaz (30%), Russia's Rosneft (20%), India's ONGC (20%), and Japan's SODECO (30%), is designed to develop the Arkutun-Dagi, Odoptu, and Chaivo deposits on the island's northeastern shelf. Their recoverable reserves are estimated to total 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 17.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Four billion dollars has already been invested in the project, which is expected to cost up to $13 billion, making it one of the largest direct foreign investment projects in Russia. Experts said Russia could gain $40 billion from the project.