The Sakhalin-3 project is an oil and gas development in Sakhalin Island

Sakhalin

Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. It includes four blocks (East-Odoptu, Ayashsky, Veninsky and Kirinsky) containing 5.1 Goilbbl of crude oil and 46 Tcuft of natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

.

The Veninsky field is being developed by Venineft, a joint venture of Rosneft

Rosneft

Rosneft is an integrated oil company majority owned by the Government of Russia. Rosneft is headquartered in Moscow’s Balchug district near the Kremlin, across the Moskva river...

 (74.9%) and Sinopec

Sinopec

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation Limited , or Sinopec Limited , is a majority owned subsidiary of state owned company Sinopec Group. Sinopec Limited is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York ....

 (25.1%). It has oil reserves of 1.2 Goilbbl and 9.1 Tcuft of natural gas.

Kirinsky gas and condensate field is being developed by Gazprom Dobycha Shelf, a subsidiary of Gazprom

Gazprom

Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...

. Kirinsky field is located 28 kilometres (17.4 mi) offshore Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk

Sea of Okhotsk

The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and...

 in water depths of approximately 90 metres (295.3 ft). It has gas reserves about 3.6 Tcuft. The field is expected to be commissioned in 2014. In addition, Gazprom owns the East-Odoptu and Ayashsky licences.

Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...

, ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...

, and Rosneft got the licence to operate Sakhalin-3 under a production sharing agreement granted in 1993. The licence was revoked and re-tendered in 2005 under a normal tax regime.

In June 2009, Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

invited Royal Dutch Shell to participate in the Sakhalin-3 project.