HISTORY IN THE MAKING

It is not often in either one's professional career or personal life that we are afforded the opportunity to be part of history — everyday we learn of history unfolding in some corner of the world via the 24-hour electronic media, but that is not being part history, that is only observing history in the making from the sidelines. However, we personally have had the great fortune to be part of history — the development of what is probably the single largest integrated oil and gas project ever undertaken.

As both current and former representatives of the Commercial Department of Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd (otherwise known as Sakhalin Energy and the operator of the Sakhalin-2 Project), we have had the great pleasure and challenge of contributing to Russia's leading oil and gas export project in the Russian Far East — the building of Russia's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. The world is witnessing the birth of a new oil and gas province off the continental shelf of Sakhalin island. An oil and gas province similar in size to that of the North Sea that is located on the doorstep of the Asia Pacific. It will alter the energy dynamics of this region with far-reaching geo-political implications for Russia's relations with its Northeast Asian neighbours.

Russia has a long history of being a stable supplier of oil and gas to Europe. Though Russian policymakers recognize the importance of the Asian energy market — as reflected in the government's Energy Strategy for Russia to 2020 — this coveted market has remained beyond its reach until recently. If there were any doubts of Russia's ambitions towards the East, then these were surely put to rest when President Vladimir Putin clearly articulated Russia's aspirations at the APEC Summit in Bangkok on 19 October 2003: