The Sakhalin-1 oil and gas development project is located off the coast of Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. It comprises three offshore fields namely Chayvo, Odoptu, and Arkutun-Dagi.
The Chayvo field came on stream in October 2005, followed respectively by the Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi fields in 2010 and 2015.
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The Sakhalin-1 project is operated by Exxon Neftegas (ENL), a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil which holds a 30% participating interest.
The other partners of the project are the Japanese consortium Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Company (SODECO, 30%), India’s state-owned ONGC Videsh (20%), and Russian oil company Rosneft (20%).
Rosneft participates in the Sakhalin-1 consortium through two of its subsidiaries named RN-Astra (8.5%) and Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf (11.5%).
Sakhalin-1 project location and site details
The three fields under the Sakhalin-1 project are located in the Okhotsk Sea, off the north-eastern coast of Sakhalin Island. The total project area is estimated to be approximately 1,140km2.
Sakhalin-1 was a technically challenging project to develop due to the harsh arctic climatic conditions in the Northern Sakhalin region.
Oil and gas reserves
The Sakhalin 1 project is estimated to hold approximately 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 17.1 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in recoverable reserves.
Sakhalin-1 production details
The Sakhalin-1 project produced more than 11.63 million tonnes of oil and condensate in 2018. It also supplied 2.48 billion cubic metres (bcm) during the year.
The total crude export from the project reached 100 million tonnes in August 2018.
The gas produced at the field is used for domestic consumption as well as for maintaining reservoir pressure. The Sakhalin-1 consortium partners are also planning to build an LNG terminal for exporting natural gas from the project.
Production and processing infrastructure
The Chayvo and Arkutun-Dagi fields have been developed with one offshore platform each, respectively named Orlan and Berkut. The Odoptu field has an onshore oil and gas treatment facility.
Parker Drilling’s Yastreb onshore drilling rig was used for drilling wells at the Chayvo and Odoptu fields, while the Krechet drilling rig, the world’s biggest and most powerful land rig, has been used for drilling extended reach wells for the Sakhlin-1 project since 2017.
The drilling of a 15km-long well from the Orlan platform at the Chayvo field was completed in November 2017. It is considered to be the world’s longest well drilled till date.
The oil and gas from the Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi fields is transported through a pipeline to the Chayvo onshore processing facility.
The capacity of the processing facility is approximately 250,000 barrels of oil and 800 million cubic feet (Mcf) of gas a day.
Pipeline and oil export terminal
The oil from the Chayvo onshore processing facility in Sakhalin Island is pumped to the De-Kastri terminal in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, through a 226-km long and 24in-diameter pipeline. Commissioned in August 2006, the pipeline has both land and subsea sections.
The annual capacity of De-Kastri oil export terminal is 12 million tonnes. The tankers are loaded with oil at an elevated single point mooring facility located 5.7km east of the De-Kastri terminal.
Sakhalin-1 LNG export terminal
The Sakhalin-1 consortium partners announced the decision to construct an LNG export terminal at the De-Kastri Port in September 2019.
The export capacity of the Sakhalin-1 LNG terminal is expected to be 6.2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa).
Sakhalin-2 LNG, in which Gazprom owns a majority stake, is the first LNG export facility in Russia that commenced production in February 2009. The other Russian LNG export projects include Yamal LNG and the upcoming Arctic LNG 2.
Contractors involved
Fluor Daniel Eurasia, a subsidiary of Fluor, was the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor for the onshore processing facilities (OPF) at Chayvo.
ENKA, an engineering and construction company based in Turkey, was engaged for the mechanical and piping works, while South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries fabricated the modules for the processing facility.
The Yastreb land rig used for the Shaklin-1 offshore development was designed, constructed and operated by Parker Drilling Company, a company based in Houston.
Romona was engaged to provide geophysical, geotechnical, and other surveying services for the project.
The other major contractors involved in the project were Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Weatherford, Welltec Oilfield Services, Pacific Rim Constructors, SakhalinNIPImorneft, Primorsky Drill Rig Services, SakhWest Construction Kentech Sakhalin Technical Services, Remote Projects Services Group, Fircroft Engineering Services, NovusOrenStroy, Kvaerner, and Ecc-Veco.
