Oil Producers Flock to Island [Sakhalin, Russia] In Russia With Fragile Ecology

NOGLIKI, Russia -- Sakhalin Island has long been celebrated in Russia for its salmon streams and shallow ocean waters full of cod, crab and herring -- a bounty for fishermen and for endangered gray whales. Now it's about to become more famous for its oil.

"This could have been AMERICAN oil, and AMERICAN jobs, you RATS in congress."

This work has been going on since the mid-90's - and will continue to go on even if ANWR had happend.

There are literally hundreds of wells on the Island which were develped by the Russians I believe pre WWII and continued after - most production has been shallow and the deeper prospects and offshore prospects were never tested.

Environmentally it is a mess - which is true for all Russian production facilities - EXXON-MOBIL on their worst day couldn't and wouldn't operate a program of any kind in any area of the world at the Russians substandard protocols - if for no other reason because it wastes production and is a safety disaster waiting to happen -

The Japanese, Korean markets will most likely be the point of sale which will aid them greatly by cutting down transportation expense as well as increasing a secure source of production.

Vladavostok (?) on the easter Russian coast was the port which the Pacific Russian Nuclear Submarine Fleet and is Southwest of the island - but like Murmansk is not as active as it once was.

This used to belong to Japan, and IIRC Japan still claims this territory. Japan surely would be the logical nearby market for this oil in any case.

When Japan had it, the island was called Karafuto, which seems so much more poetic than "Sakhalin."

Re #6

It first belonged to Russia. But Russia lost the war against Japan which broke out in 1905. A half of Sakhalin went to Japan as a part of settlement. Then Soviet Union got it back after WWII.

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