Sakhalin-2 is Ready to Become a Center of Competence for Integrated Field Development
On September 27, on the sidelines of the Far Eastern Energy Forum “Oil and Gas of Sakhalin – 2023”, a plenary session “The Far East: New Prospects for the Oil, Gas and Energy Sector” was held. The key event of the first day of the conference brought together representatives of the legislative and executive authorities, business, expert and scientific communities.
This year, the priority topic of the forum was the development of technologies in the energy industry against the backdrop of a difficult international situation. According to the Governor of the Sakhalin Region Valery Limarenko, despite the current macroeconomic situation, the region, like the oil industry, adequately withstood the sanctions pressure. He thanked the key companies that reached the planned levels of oil and gas production and showed high professionalism in solving complex problems. Among them is Sakhalin Energy, together with which the regional government is implementing a project to build an oil and gas industrial park.
“It has already become a platform for service enterprises and a promising direction for working with specialized investors. The emergence of an oil and gas cluster will ensure the technological independence of Sakhalin from external engineering solutions and the concentration of capacities in one territory to service hydrocarbon production projects,” added Valery Limarenko.
He drew special attention to the fact that today the development of the oil and gas industry in the region is based on the principle of deep processing of extracted natural resources. The corresponding task within the framework of the EEF 2023 was voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Now the regional government is exploring the possibility of developing such projects on Sakhalin with the largest players in the oil and gas market, in close proximity to the extracted natural resources,” the governor said.
Of particular interest to the forum participants were the strategies of industry leaders for business sustainability in the face of current challenges. According to Sergei Menshikov, a member of the Management Board and Head of the Department of PJSC Gazprom, PJSC Gazprom pays great attention to the development of projects in the East of the country and is developing strategic cooperation with the Sakhalin region, a region where a new gas production center has been formed, capable of providing energy resources to consumers in the Far East and countries APR. He noted that Gazprom is one of the most reliable partners in the region, ensuring the process of social gasification of the islands, construction and equipment of sports, education, and healthcare institutions.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us, and in cooperation with the regional authorities, the entire volume will be completed. The joint plans of Gazprom and the Government are focused on further socio-economic development and growth in the well-being of the region’s residents,” emphasized Sergei Menshikov.
Assessing the situation in the fuel and energy complex, Chief Executive Officer of Sakhalin Energy Roman Dashkov noted that it is already clear from specific examples that the main driver of growth in global gas consumption will be LNG. At the same time, the countries of the Asia-Pacific region are becoming the key consumer of energy resources, and the intensive development of economic relations with them is directly related to the oil and gas industry of Sakhalin.
“For the comprehensive and effective development of the Sakhalin region as a leading energy producer for the Asia-Pacific countries and a guarantor of energy security in the Far Eastern region, it is advisable to create a Coordination Center. Within its framework, the key tasks of providing energy resources to both internal and external consumers will be solved, which will allow the optimal development and monetization of the resources of Sakhalin Island within one center,” says Roman Dashkov.
The activities of such a Center must be built on the principles of mutually beneficial cooperation and maintaining a balance of interests of the state, business, mining enterprises, subsoil users and consumers. Another important condition is that the Coordination Center must be based on the human development policy and actively participate in the personnel and technological development of the oil and gas industry. All this must be in harmony with environmental and social aspects and issues, and ultimately contribute to solving the problems relevant to the region.
The head of the company proposed to consider the Sakhalin-2 project as a Center, which, over the course of almost 30 years of implementation, has demonstrated the sustainability of production and reliability of supplies to both Russian consumers and export obligations.
“Such a scenario will provide the prospect of clear planning of the balance of production and supply with reference to a specific resource base within the framework of one project, and will help clearly and competently plan the development of the entire Far Eastern region,” summed up Roman Dashkov.
Combining competencies in offshore oil and gas production is facilitated by many years of experience and well–coordinated work of Gazprom Group enterprises on Sakhalin – this idea has been embodied in a corporate exhibition stand. Its visitors have the opportunity to get acquainted with the models of Russia’s first stationary offshore gas production platform “Lunskaya-A” and an underwater mining complex, contact the production facilities of the Sakhalin-2 project via online video link, experience a unique VR simulator for training or study a map of projects in the field of gasification of the region. One of the first guests of the stand were Valery Limarenko and Sergey Menshikov, who viewed with great interest the exhibits of the mobile exhibition of drilling and extracting oil and gas equipment of the Sakhalin-2 project. In the future, the company plans to use the exposition in career guidance work – one of the key areas of development of the Sakhalin Region’s human resources potential.
