In oil we trust? Russian islanders have mixed feelings

On a gray, rainy Sunday afternoon, Russian families gather along the shores of this bay to catch gorbushka -- a fish more plentiful than potatoes in these parts, and tastier. The bay is located on the southern end of Sakhalin, an island in the Russian Far East, north of Japan.

BUT NIKOLAI Yablochkin, 39, who sells the fishing permits, is worried that in years to come there won't be any more fish. His fear is that the booming oil and gas development going on off the coast of Sakhalin by companies including Texas-based ExxonMobil will destroy the island's pristine environment and the schools of fish that are the lifeblood of most people here.
"People catch fish here so they'll have something to eat for the winter," Yablochkin says. One example of the development? Near where Yablochkin stands, a plant to convert natural gas into a liquefied form is being built. Where fishermen now throw their lines to hook gorbushka, two jetties will stick out into the bay.

TWO PROJECTS WORTH $22 BILLION
With its rich oil and gas reserves, Sakhalin has attracted billions of dollars in foreign investment. But many environmentalists and locals worry about the ecological damage the development could bring.

http://msnbc.com/news/974839.asp?0cv=CB20

Locals VS Shell and ExxonMobil. There's a nailbiter.

The Sakhalin oil and gas project has been the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for Western oil and gas concerns for the better part of eight years now.

The corruption and inefficiency, as you might imagine with a horde of oil and natural gas to be had like this, is monumental. BP sunk several million into Sakhalin before finally surrendering in the face of bureaucratic opposition.

Sakhalin and "the dream of China" are about on the same level.