Exxon raises 2008 Sakhalin oil output forecast

MOSCOW, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) said oil output at its Russian Sakhalin-1 project, shrinking after reaching a peak level, will decline less than expected this year and will continue falling in 2009.

Exxon raised its Sakhalin-1 output forecast to 9.2 million tonnes in 2008 (184,251 barrels per day) from the previously planned 7.9-8.2 million tonnes, a press officer from Exxon's Moscow office said on Wednesday.

The new forecast represents a 17.9 percent decline from the peak production of 11.2 million tonnes reached in 2007.

In 2009, Sakhalin-1 oil output is likely to fall by around 1 million tonnes as Exxon has yet to get local authorities' permission to add an adjacent field to the project's licenced area, the press officer quoted a top executive as saying at a recent meeting with regional authorities.

Oil production in Russia, the world's second largest crude oil exporter, has been declining since the start of the year as many deposits are becoming depleted and oil firms complain that heavy taxation prevents them from investing enough in new fields to support growth.

Sakhalin-1, like the neighbouring Sakhalin-2 project, co-led by Gazprom (GAZP.MM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), is a production sharing deal (PSA) which is subjects to special regulations, when its tax status is fixed for a long term. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, writing by Tanya Mosolova, editing by Anthony Barker)