f Opportunities & Challenges Working in a "Arctic" Environment, Offshore Sakhalin

A012 Opportunities & Challenges Working in a "Arctic" Environment Offshore Sakhalin M. Gunningham* (Sakhalin Energy Investment Company) SUMMARY Sakhalin Energy is currently developing 3 oil and gas fields offshore Sakhalin Island off the east coast of mainland Russia. This is a challenging area for exploration and development with potentially billions of barrels of oil and gas. The key problem is that in the winter drifting sea ice several meters thick heavy snow and temperatures down to minus 40°C all contribute to Arctic type conditions. Under these conditions the offshore developments use the latest technology with concrete gravity based platforms which