In January 2010, American company Exxon Neftegaz Limited, which is the operator of Sakhalin-1, reported completing two inclined wells at the Odoptu field in the offshore zone of Sakhalin Island. The wells are 9 kilometers deep. The plan is to have 7 wells drilled at Odoptu. Production is expected to start in the second half of 2010.
The Yastreb rig used at the offshore oilfield has been used to drill 12 wells at the Chaivo field. That oilfield entered production in 2005. Chaivo is located close to 80 km to the South of Odoptu. It took 7 months and 400 members of personnel to transport the rig
An oil and gas terminal is being constructed at Odoptu. A pipeline is also being built to the existing terminal located at Chaivo.
Sakhalin-1 includes three large deposits, whose oil reserves have been calculated at 307 million tons. The recoverable reserves of gas are estimated at 485 billion cubic meters. The deposits are located below the Sea of Okhotsk.
Since production at Sakhalin-1 started, 32 million tons of crude oil has been recovered. 5 billion cubic meters of casing head gas was also produced and delivered to consumers in Khabarovsk. Exxon paid more than USD 2.6 billion to the Russian government in royalties and as compensation for the state’s share of oil and gas production. USD 646 million went to the government of Sakhalin.
Sakhalin-1 consortium includes Rosneft – Astra, which has an 8.5-percent stake, Sakhalinmorneftegaz-Shelf, which has an 11.5-percent share, Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Company, Ltd. (Japan) that owns 30 percent of the project, ONGC Videsh Limited (India) with a 20-percent ownership, and Exxon Oil and Gas Limited, which has a 30-percent interest in the operation.