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A joint Russian-South Korean venture was presented in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Friday by Russia’s Teplomontazhservis and Korean Gas Technology Corporation KOGAS-Tech to provide safe operation of facilities within Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 oil and gas projects, a press statement from the region’s administration said.

The venture was announced at the meeting of top officials from KOGAS-Tech and the Sakhalin administration, the statement reported.

Along with ensuring safe exploitation of the facilities engaged, the venture will also provide safe operation of the plant in the settlement of Prigorodnoye which will produce liquefied natural gas as part of the Sakhalin-2 project.

During the meeting, Sakhalin Vice Governor Sergei Vilyamov stressed that the region’s administration is interested in cooperating with S. Korea, whose companies have innovative technology in exploring shelf oil and gas deposits.

According to Vilyamov, from January to September of last year, S. Korean investments amounted to $20 million, with Korean companies actively participating in exploring shelf deposits.

KOGAS-Tech President Chang Soon Ho noted that, “Today, the competition between countries due to the shortage of energy resources has become acute and I hope for fair relations between our company and Sakhalin’s administration.”

KOGAS-Tech was launched in 1993 as a subsidiary of Korea Gas Corporation, or KOGAS, a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer. The company has been providing services in projecting and maintaining engineering facilities in the LNG processing sector.

The Sakhalin-1 project fields’ reserves are around 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 485 billion cubic meters of gas, with capital expenditures on the development of the fields estimated at more than $12 billion. The Sakhalin-1 consortium includes ExxonMobil, with the company’s stake of 30 percent, Japan's SODECO with a 30 percent stake, India's ONGC Videsh Ltd. with a 20 percent stake, and Russia’s Rosneft which has a 20 percent stake.

Sakhalin-2 project has been carried out by the British-Dutch oil giant Shell owning a 55 percent stake in the consortium, and Japan’s Mitsui and Co and Mitsubishi Corp which have 25 and 20 percent stakes respectively. The project’s fields’ reserves are estimated at 150 million tons of oil and 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The natural gas liquefying plant will have an estimated overall output of 9.6 million tons per year.