MOSCOW, August 4 (RAPSI) – Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, has filed a motion in a commercial court to postpone the hearing of a Rosneft lawsuit on accessing a pipeline.

Rosneft has sued Sakhalin Energy for permission to transport up to eight billion cubic meters of natural gas annually via the Sakhalin-II pipeline under its ExxonMobil project. Gazprom, who owns a 50% (plus one share) stake in Sakhalin Energy, is a third party to the case.

The preliminary hearing date was set for August 6.

On July 10, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) ordered Sakhalin Energy to review Rosneft’s pipeline-access request giving it a July 31 deadline. Sakhalin Energy is to inform the FAS about the results of the review of the Rosneft request by the end of the working day on August 4, the regulator told RIA Novosti.

A spokesperson for Sakhalin Energy told RIA Novosti that the company had submitted a detailed reply to the FAS order.

In mid-July, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin told RIA Novosti that Gazprom would meet Rosneft and ExxonMobil halfway and allow their joint liquefied natural gas venture to use the Sakhalin-II pipeline. The company expects to reach an out-of-court agreement and to formalization a contract soon, Sechin noted.

Currently, there is only one liquefied natural gas refinery operating in the Sakhalin Region, with Gazprom looking to expand it. Rosneft is developing its own refinery in cooperation with ExxonMobil, and has requested access to the Sakhalin-II pipeline system for cost reduction.

After being denied pipeline access by Gazprom, Rosneft sued Sakhalin Energy, for permission to use the pipeline and filed a complaint with the FAS.

The Sakhalin-II project includes the Piltun-Astokhskoye and Lunskoye oil and gas fields on Sakhalin Island's northeastern shelf, with recoverable reserves estimated at 150 million tons (1.1 billion bbl) of oil and 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas.