Exxon Mobil Corp. is due to start pumping crude oil and gas from an offshore field near Russia's Far Eastern island of Sakhalin on Saturday, AP reported. Exxon Mobil subsidiary Exxon Neftegaz Ltd., which operates the Sakhalin-1 project, expects to eventually produce 12.5 million metric tons _ or 87.5 million barrels _ of oil per year. The Itar-Tass news agency reported that Exxon's Yastreb platform in the Sea of Okhotsk, northeast of the island, had already been plugged into Russia's Far East trunk pipelines. Two other offshore fields are also being developed under the project. Some of Russia's largest oil and gas fields are located off Sakhalin Island. Many multinational oil companies are currently working to tap the reserves.
