Word: sakhaliners
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Since the Soviet fall, Sakhalin Island, off Russia's eastern edge, has seen more than its share of ebullient executives from Western oil giants prospecting for black gold. But few have kept their confidence for long. Most have endured frustrating years waiting for deals to be signed, as bureaucracy, xenophobia and corruption combined to thwart their dreams of bringing Sakhalin's well-known oil riches to the outside world. But in recent months, the oilmen have turned almost giddy--buoyed in equal measure by the high price of crude and President Vladimir Putin's pledge to build a legal foundation...
...world-class oil and gas reserves, on a par with those of the largest OPEC producers. The problem is getting the oil out of the ground and to market. Years of Soviet mismanagement and underinvestment have taken their toll. Russia's oil fields are in dire need of rehabilitation; Sakhalin's north and much of Siberia are littered with rusting derricks ringed by porous labyrinths of old pipelines. Local environmentalists, pointing to the recent spill near the Galapagos Islands, worry about the potential damage to Sakhalin's rich ecosystem caused by toxic drilling waste...