ExxonMobil delegation arrives on Sakhalin

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, June 27 (RIA Novosti, Pyotr Tsyrendorzhiyev) - Senior figures from American oil giant ExxonMobil have arrived on the Russian island of Sakhalin in the north Pacific to see how the Sakhalin oil and gas project on the northeastern shelf of the island is proceeding, the Sakhalin press department reported Monday.

At a meeting with Sakhalin Governor Ivan Malakhov, the company's representatives, who were led by the corporation's president, Rex Tillerson, said oil and gas production would start this September.

The meeting also considered the company's possible participation in the Sakhalin III project and in the Sakhalin development fund.

The Sakhalin governor also raised the issue of increasing the share of Sakhalin contractors in Sakhalin I, in particular, of buildings and facilities designers, seismologists and environmentalists.

Malakhov also thanked Tillerson for making it possible for Russian companies to gain a 60% share in the Sakhalin I project. Under the project, which was declared profitable in October 2001, oil and gas deposits are to be developed on the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin. Its natural resources are estimated at 307 million metric tons of oil and 485 billion cubic meters of gas.

Exxon Neftegaz Ltd., an Exxon Mobil subsidiary, is the project operator. The Sakhalin I consortium also includes two Russian companies, and one company each from Japan and India.