The Sakhalin regional government announced the accepted budget figure in a statement today, said a Reuters report.
“The governor… has pointed out several important details: additional spending for 2008 was approved at $480 million and 2009 spending at about $2 billion,” said a statement.
ExxonMobil is the operator of the $12 billion project. The other partners include OJSC Rosneft Oil Company, Itochu Corporation, Marubeni Corporation, Japan National Oil, and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC).
ExxonMobil had threatened to hang up the future phases of Sakhalin-1 during the bitter budget argument. But analysts say the economic crisis and a drop in global gas demand might have made the issue less acute.
