OREANDA-NEWS. October 6, 2008. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk hosted the opening of the 11th Sakhalin Oil & Gas International Conference 2008. The Conference was attended by a Gazprom delegation led by Viktor Timoshilov, Head of the East-Oriented Projects Coordination Directorate.

A presentation given by Gazprom at the Conference stated that the Company was consecutive in implementing the Eastern Gas Program and launched the practical execution of top priority projects.

Gazprom rendered assistance to Sakhalin Energy in the technical, financial and environmental areas for successful completion of Sakhalin-2 stage two. This will make it possible to promptly launch LNG deliveries within the project.

Another top priority project of the Eastern Gas Program is the creation of the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system. On September 1 this year the Russian Government entrusted Gazprom with commissioning the startup complex of this gas pipeline in the 3rd quarter of 2011. The launch of the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok GTS will enable in the future to continue developing the Unified Gas Supply System in Russia’s East through the construction of a GTS connecting Yakutia, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok as set out in the Eastern Gas Program.

The tight implementation schedule for the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok investment project (practically two years less compared to standard lead time) requires clearly defined interaction and cooperation mechanisms between Gazprom and the regional authorities.

As it was emphasized in Gazprom’s presentation, the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline would enable to supply the Russian Far East consumers with gas from the Chaivo, Odoptu, Arkutun-Dagi fields and in the long-term from the Kirinskoye gas & condensate field, Kirinsky, Vostochno-Odoptinsky, Ayashsky and other promising blocks offshore the Sakhalin Island. Pursuant to the decision of the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at the September 1, 2008 circuit meeting in Vladivostok, the work is underway for Gazprom to obtain in 2008 the subsurface use rights for the Kirinsky, Vostochno-Odoptinsky and Ayashsky blocks with the aggregate resources of 1.7 bln t of coal equivalent, of which 80 per cent is gas. All this establishes the necessary conditions for the successful implementation of the project.

Within the frames of the Conference Gazprom’s delegation had a working meeting the Sakhalin Oblast Governor Alexander Khoroshavin. The parties addressed the progress with the Agreement of Cooperation between Gazprom and the Sakhalin Oblast Administration, and the Accord on Gasification. The parties pointed out that in the near future the General Gas Supply and Gasification Scheme for the Sakhalin Oblast would be submitted for approval by the regional authorities. A top priority project of the said General Scheme is the conversion to natural gas of the fourth power unit at the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk CHP-1. This will be of crucial significance for bettering the ecology in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk as well as enhancing the operational reliability of Sakhalin’s power grid.

Within the Conference Gazprom transgaz Tomsk (a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom) and Sakhalin Energy entered into a five-year agreement for the operation and maintenance of Sakhalin-2 gas and oil pipelines.