Russia is expected to start natural gas production at the new Sakhalin-3 project in the Pacific Ocean in 2028 to supply gas to China and for domestic needs, Russian news agencies said on Thursday, citing the local governor.
The governor, Valery Limarenko, also said Russia's energy giant Gazprom and the regional authorities are working on a plan to build a refinery in southern Sakhalin to produce jet fuel, diesel and naphtha from gas condensate.
Russia has been diversifying its oil and gas exports, a key source for its budget revenues, away from Europe to Asia due to a crisis in relations with the West over the conflict with Ukraine.
One of the pipelines from Russia to China, designed to carry gas via the Far Eastern route from Sakhalin, is due to start gas supplies in 2027 and eventually exports 12 billion cubic metres of gas annually, up from 10 bcm planned initially.
"We link the industry's prospects to the implementation of the Sakhalin-3 project. Its launch is scheduled for 2028. This gas is expected to be exported to China and also used for the needs of the Far East," the governor was quoted as saying.
Sakhalin-3 includes the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye field, which the United States put under sanctions in 2015 for Moscow's role in the crisis in Ukraine.
The field, part of the Kirinsky block in the Sea of Okhotsk, also contains oil, while sanctions are related to exploration for or production of, oil or gas in Russian deepwaters.
According to Gazprom's data, Yuzhno-Kirinskoye's reserves amount to 711.2 billion cubic metres of natural gas, 111.5 million tonnes of gas condensate and 4.1 million tonnes of oil.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
