Gazprom Throwing Weight Around On Sakhalin Projects

摘要

Gazprom has moved to expand its clout in Russia's Far East and Eastern Siberia. At a meeting with Exxon Neftegaz recently, officials reportedly insisted on buying all gas from the Sakhalin-1 project instead of using it for joint exports to China. Gazprom said Russia's blueprint to develop the gas sector in the Far East did not include a separate gas pipeline to China, thus effectively blocking Sakhalin-1's plans to export gas to China independently. Exxon Neftegaz holds a 30% stake in Sakhalin-1, which has estimated reserves of 2.3 billion barrels of oil and some 17 Tcf of natural gas. Sakhalin-1 began oil production in 200.5 and expects to begin large-scale oil shipments by the end of this year.