Interdisciplinary Studies:
Oil and Gas Development and the Environment
on the Sakhalin Continental Shelf

Research Project
Sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture
From 1998 to 2001

This research project was established to examine issues pertaining to the economic development and the environment on the Sakhalin continental shelf. Sixteen research associates from different academic disciplines – economics, political science, ethnology, marine science, engineering, to name a few – are working together to explore better ways to deal with the trade-offs between sustainable economic development and environmental protection in the region.

Preparations for the Sakhalin-I and Sakhalin-II projects based on the Production Sharing Contract have been aimed at developing oil and gas reserves on the continental shelf in the Okhotsk Sea, northeast of Sakhalin Island. 1999 has marked the beginning of the long-term oil and gas development projects starting with crude oil production.

Severe marine conditions, especially during winter when ice floes cover the sea, increase the possibility of an oil spill. If an oil spill were to occur, fishing and tourism in the Okhotsk Sea's coastal regions would be severely damaged. One of the project's primary research areas is studying the region's environmental and meteorological conditions to examine appropriate measures to deal with marine pollution caused by an oil spill.

In the summer of 1998, the project's research associates visited Sakhalin and explored the possibility of conducting joint research with the administration of the Sakhalin Oblast and the State Committee on Environmental Protection in the Sakhalin Region, and contacted several Non-Governmental Organizations. At the 1999 Slavic Research Center Summer Symposium "Russian Regions: Economic Development and Environment", several sessions were dedicated to the issues examined in this project. Scholars from Russia and the United States were invited to give presentations and discuss the issues examined in the project.

In order to facilitate communication with the public on the Japanese side, in January 1999 we held a public seminar in Monbetsu, a city facing the Okhotsk Sea, to discuss the issues. This collaboration and sharing of information with the public and the local government will facilitate the establishment of crisis management systems.

 

PROJECT MEMBERS

Takashi Murakami Professor,
Slavic Research Center,
Hokkaido University		 Head of the Research Team
Energy Economy
Fumikazu Yoshida Professor,
Faculty of Economics,
Hokkaido University		 Economic Development and
Investment in Environment
Takemichi Hatakeyama Professor,
Faculty of Law,
Hokkaido University		 Comparative Studies of
Environmental Laws between
Russia and the United States
Nobuo Arai Professor,
Faculty of Humanities and
Social Studies,
Sapporo International University		 Economic Development and
Fishery
Kouichi Inoue Professor,
Slavic Research Center,
Hokkaido University		 Influence on Indigenous Peoples'
Life and Culture
Shugo Minagwa Professor,
Slavic Research Center,
Hokkaido University		 NGO Activities and Local Politics
Hiroshi Saeki Professor,
Faculty of Civil Engineering,
Hokkaido University		 Development of Recovery Methods
for Spilled Oil under Ice Floes
Hiromitsu Kitagawa Professor,
Faculty of Civil Engineering,
Hokkaido University		 Influence of Marine Composition
on Marine Environment
Masaaki Aota Professor,
Institute of Low Temperature
Science, Hokkaido University		 Glacier Drifting off the East Coast
of Sakhalin
Etsuo Yamamura Professor,
Department of Regional Planning,
Graduate School of
Environmental Science,
Hokkaido University		 Environmental Map Analysis
of Sakhalin
Shigeru Nakao Professor,
Faculty of Fisheries
Hokkaido University		 Marine Multiplication
in the Sea of Okhotsk
Tsuneo Akaha Director,
Center for East Asian Studies,
Monterey Institute of
International Studies,
Monterey, USA		 Social Consciousness of the
Citizens of Sakhalin on
Sakhalin Oil and Gas Project
Anna Vassilieva Associate Professor,
Center for East Asian Studies,
Monterey Institute of
International Studies,
Monterey, USA		 Data Analysis on Russia's
Environmental Policies
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