03-09-08 ExxonNeftegaz, the operator of the ExxonMobil-led Sakhalin-I offshore project in Russia's Far East, has revised up its crude production forecast for this year to 9.2 mm tons (184,000 bpd) from around 8.2 mm tons, a Moscow-based representative of ExxonMobil said.
The increase will come from a new layer discovered at the Chayvo field earlier this year, the representative said, referring to a presentation made by ExxonNeftegaz vice president Dale Pittman in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Next year, crude output is expected to decline again by some 1 mm tons, according to Pittman.

In early February, an official from project partner Rosneft said that crude output at Chayvo this year was set to fall by around a quarter from 11 mm tons in 2007 due to natural decline. To compensate for the decline, the consortium developing the project plans to start drilling at the neighbouring Odoptu field in 2009 -- also a part of Sakhalin-I project--and commence production in 2010-2011.
The Sakhalin-I project also includes the Arkutun-Dagi field, where the consortium plans drill two exploratory wells this year with the aim of commissioning before 2015.

Sakhalin-I's potential recoverable reserves are estimated at 307 mm tons (2.3 bn barrels) of crude and 485 bn cm (17.1 tcf) of gas, according to ExxonNeftegaz. ExxonMobil holds 30 % of the project, alongside Japan's Sodeco with 30 %, India's ONGC with 20 % and Russia's state-owned Rosneft with 20 %.
The news is likely to please Russian authorities, who are counting on oil producers overcoming the decline in the country's overall oil production seen in the first eight months of the year. Russia's oil output is down 0.6 % on the year to 325.154 mm tons (9.73 mm bpd) in January through August, supporting concerns that Russia may see the first fall in annual oil production this year since 1998.