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Financial Times: Sakhalin II: 'constructive dialogue' welcomed: Wednesday 18 January 2006

By Ian Craig

Published: January 18 2006

From Mr Ian Craig.

Sir, There are many challenges associated with the complex Sakhalin II oil and gas project, as your article, "Remote resource: Shell's Sakhalin task shows an industry its daunting future" (January 9), clearly outlined. The article also outlined the some of the measures being applied to address these challenges by Sakhalin Energy.

None of the issues raised by Robert Napier, WWF-UK chief, in his letter (January 13) is new and each has been addressed in detail, both with the WWF and their non-governmental organisations colleagues directly, and in public.

Rather than repeating these responses, or commenting on their accuracy, we would encourage any reader with an interest to explore our website (www.sakhalinenergy.com).

The site contains the extensive environmental and social assessments and commitments published under the disclosure requirements that we have committed to as part of the process of seeking financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The transparency of the processes may be illustrated by the establishment of an independent panel of whale scientists, whose report contributed to the decision to reroute the offshore pipelines.

We continue to engage and seek the impartial advice of these scientists as our activities progress.

A more recent example is the independent monitoring and public reporting of this winter's pipeline river crossings.

Developments on this scale inevitably involve some disruption, particularly during the construction phase.

We are committed to ensuring that all potentially negative impacts are minimised and we welcome all constructive dialogue that aids us in achieving this aim.

Ian Craig,

Chief Executive, Sakhalin Energy,

Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Russia 

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