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Sakhalin-1 Project Announces Commencement of Technician Trainee Program

Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL), operator of the Sakhalin-1 Project will commence an extensive training program for 48 trainees on the 20th November 2002 in Yuzhno. The trainees, all from Sakhalin, will be trained to operate the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas facilities currently under construction. They represent ENL's first technician training class. ENL plans to train similar groups in 2003 and 2004 to meet overall operating technician requirements.

FIRST CLASS OF ENL TECHNICIAN TRAINEES

The training program consists of 6-9 months of instruction in the English language and technical English. This phase will take place in Yuzhno. After successfully completing the language training, the trainees will travel to the United States and Canada for further practical training in the primary skill areas of Operations, Mechanics, Electrical and Instrumentation. This phase of the training will last from 12 to 15 months, depending on each trainee' specific job requirements. After successful completion, there will be several options for continuing their education. All technicians will return to Sakhalin to assist with the commissioning, start up and daily operation of the new facilities.

The training in Yuzhno will be conducted on the basis of Sakhalin Alaska college. ENL has contracted the Russian American Business Center to provide 6 Russian instructors with fluent English language skills, who are responsible for ENL's English language training program.

The Sakhalin-1 project, the largest foreign direct investment project in Russia, has recoverable resources of approximately 2.3 billion barrels of oil and 17 trillion cubic feet of gas. The Sakhalin-1 Consortium plans to develop the project in four phases. The first phase, with development costs of around $US4 billion, will focus on planned oil production, with limited gas supplies available to help meet the Russian domestic demand. First oil production from the Chayvo field is scheduled to commence at the end of 2005, and reach a daily plateau rate of around 250,000 barrels.

In addition to ENL (30% interest, operator), the Sakhalin-1 consortium members are the Japanese company Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co., Ltd. (30%), Indian company ONGC Videsh Ltd. (20%) and two Russian companies, Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf (11.5%) and RN-Astra (8.5%).