Planet under Pressure

SAKHALIN-2 PROJECT:
CONSERVATION OF
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
By Andrey Samatov, PhD, and Timophei Zvezdov, Sakhalin Energy
Sakhalin is the largest island in Russia,
stretching almost 1,000 km along the
east coast of Asia. It is separated from
the Japanese island of Hokkaido by the
La Perouse Strait. Sakhalin Island has
unique flora and fauna, which has developed
due to its geographical location,
diverse terrain, and specific climatic
conditions. The past 25 years have seen
the implementation of the Sakhalin-2
project in the territory of the island.
This is one of the largest oil and gas
projects in the world. The practices used
by Sakhalin Energy, the project operator,
have proved that it is perfectly possible to
develop a large-scale high-tech business
successfully, without harming a fragile
and diverse ecosystem, thereby directly
contributing to the implementation of
UN Sustainable Development Goals 12
(Responsible consumption and production)
and 15 (Life on land).
Island-wide project
Implementing the Sakhalin-2 project, the
company has built a complex infrastructure
for the production, transportation,
and processing of hydrocarbons. Oil
and gas are produced year-round from
three offshore platforms in the north of
Sakhalin. Hydrocarbons are first transported
to the onshore processing facility
(OPF) through 280 km of offshore pipeline,
and then to the Prigorodnoye production
complex in the south of the
island via the onshore pipeline, whose
length measures about 1,600 km.
On its way from the north to the south
of Sakhalin, the pipeline crosses about
a thousand rivers and streams, wetlands,
and mountains. It also passes through
areas with diverse biological communities
that are home to protected plant and
animal species. For this reason, the measures
taken to ensure that the Sakhalin-2
project protects the environment have
always been top corporate priorities.
Sakhalin Energy builds its comprehensive
environmental protection activities
on the basis of the “prevent–reduce–
restore–compensate” principle.
Approaches to construction
Striving to prevent any negative impact
from its operations, Sakhalin Energy
has implemented a number of unprecedented
solutions. One of them was the
construction of a pipeline in the Chayvo
Bay area. Baseline studies had shown that
the construction work could damage the
sensitive ecosystem in the area, so the
pipeline route was redesigned to avoid
crossing the mass breeding areas of protected
bird species (226 bird species have
been registered in the territories around
the project infrastructure facilities, 48
of which are included in the Red Data
Books of Russia and the Sakhalin Oblast).
On another section of the route, the
company completely stopped all construction
work within the boundaries
of the protection zones for the duration
of the eagles’ nesting period.
The high density of the river network
as well as the presence of protected
fish species and salmon spawning
areas in the rivers required developing
special measures to reduce the impact
on these ecosystems. Sakhalin Energy
thoroughly developed and implemented
mitigation measures for each individual
LEADER IN
ENVIRONMENTAL
RATINGS
In 2019, Sakhalin Energy was
ranked first in the annual
Environmental Responsibility
Rating of Oil and Gas Companies
of Russia for the fourth time in
succession. The rating is compiled
by WWF Russia and CREON
Energy, a provider of advisory
services in the energy sector, in
partnership with the National
Rating Agency and UNDP.
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Global Goals Yearbook 2020