Sakhalin Update:
The Sakhalin II project is seeking up to USD $5B from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) of the US, UK and Japan.
A. Sakhalin Oil Development Leaves Locals Behind
April 18, 2005 (National Public Radio Morning Edition, USA) — Massive oil investments in Russia's far eastern Sakhalin Island have attracted entrepreneurial veterans of Alaska's oil boom. But there's a sense of resentment among local people who feel they've been left behind.
B. Russian Island's Residents Decry Oil Development
April 18, 2005 (National Public Radio All Things Considered, USA) — Native populations on Russia's Sakhalin Island are protesting the practices of multinational oil companies in the region, claiming oil development is intruding on their land and way of life.
C. Russian Government Supports Gazprom Stake in Sakhalin II
April 20, 2005 (RIA Novosti, Russia) — Shell Oil and Gazprom are near agreement on Gazprom's stake in Sakhalin II, rumored to be as much as 25%. The Russian Industry and Energy Minister said that the government has decided that "Gazprom shall coordinate the Eastern Siberian and Far Eastern gas-sector development program."
D. Shell Moves Pipeline to Avoid Whales as Subcontractors Dump Dredging Waste on Valuable Fishery
April 3, 2005 (The Observer, UK) — Shell Oil now faces yet more environmental protests over its controversial USD $12B Sakhalin oil and gas pipeline. This month the oil giant agreed to re-route its Sakhalin pipeline around the feeding ground of the critically-endangered Western Gray Whale. While NGOs welcome that decision as a good first step, Sakhalin islanders then discovered a huge amount of dredged material, apparently dumped by subcontractors, in a shallow bay crucial to the island's vital fishing industry. Read more on the pipeline route change in Environmental News Service (March 31, 2005) Sakhalin Energy Will Relocate Pipelines to Avoid Rare Whales.
A. Sakhalin Oil Development Leaves Locals Behind
April 18, 2005 (National Public Radio Morning Edition, USA) — Massive oil investments in Russia's far eastern Sakhalin Island have attracted entrepreneurial veterans of Alaska's oil boom. But there's a sense of resentment among local people who feel they've been left behind.
B. Russian Island's Residents Decry Oil Development
April 18, 2005 (National Public Radio All Things Considered, USA) — Native populations on Russia's Sakhalin Island are protesting the practices of multinational oil companies in the region, claiming oil development is intruding on their land and way of life.
C. Russian Government Supports Gazprom Stake in Sakhalin II
April 20, 2005 (RIA Novosti, Russia) — Shell Oil and Gazprom are near agreement on Gazprom's stake in Sakhalin II, rumored to be as much as 25%. The Russian Industry and Energy Minister said that the government has decided that "Gazprom shall coordinate the Eastern Siberian and Far Eastern gas-sector development program."
D. Shell Moves Pipeline to Avoid Whales as Subcontractors Dump Dredging Waste on Valuable Fishery
April 3, 2005 (The Observer, UK) — Shell Oil now faces yet more environmental protests over its controversial USD $12B Sakhalin oil and gas pipeline. This month the oil giant agreed to re-route its Sakhalin pipeline around the feeding ground of the critically-endangered Western Gray Whale. While NGOs welcome that decision as a good first step, Sakhalin islanders then discovered a huge amount of dredged material, apparently dumped by subcontractors, in a shallow bay crucial to the island's vital fishing industry. Read more on the pipeline route change in Environmental News Service (March 31, 2005) Sakhalin Energy Will Relocate Pipelines to Avoid Rare Whales.