Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev plans to visit Sakhalin in November to see how the violations uncovered at the Sakhalin II project are being dealt with. He announced the plans at a news conference on October 1 in Moscow.

"I want to do the same thing I did at the beginning of the story with Sakhalin II and visit the site," Trutnev said.

Interfax quoted him as saying he will clearly see how the field is being developed and whether the damage has been repaired or not.

Rosprirodnadzor, the natural resources watchdog, unveiled environmental violations related to Sakhalin II as the result of spot checks in the summer and autumn of last year. Trutnev visited Sakhalin to assess the situation on October 25.

Rosprirodnadzor in December 2006 suspended work on the project in connection with the violations, but the Sakhalin II shareholders and Gazprom at the end of December agreed on the Russian gas monopoly's entry into the project. Gazprom acquired 50 percent plus one share in project operator Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. for USD 7.45 billion. The conflict between the Russian Natural Resources Ministry and Sakhalin Energy has subsided since then. Now, the ministry is asking Sakhalin Energy for a new plan to rectify the violations, which the company says will be ready in October.

The Sakhalin II project, estimated to cost about USD 20 billion, involves the development of the Piltun-Astokhskoye and Lunskoye fields, with aggregated recoverable deposits of 150 million tonnes of oil and 500 billion cubic metres of gas.

Sakhalin Energy shareholders are Gazprom (50 percent plus one share) Royal Dutch/Shell (27.5 percent), Mitsui (12.5 percent) and Mitsubishi (10 percent).