Tag Archives: Eastern Siberia

Rosneft got an approval to complete Taas-Yuriakh purchase

Rosneft won clearance to bid for the remaining stake in a mid-sized Russian oil producer in which it already owns 35 percent, continuing an expansion drive which has made it the world’s largest oil company by output in just a year.

Russia’s antimonopoly watchdog FAS said in a statement on Tuesday it had approved Rosneft’s proposed purchase of the outstanding stake in Taas-Yuriakh, in which it bought 35.3 percent last year for $444 million from Sberbank (SBER.MM).

The deal comes as Rosneft ramps up its supplies to China, having agreed in June to double exports to Beijing to reach a total of 360 million tonnes over the next 25 years (300,000 barrels per day) in a deal worth $270 billion.

Rosneft, which had not previously announced the planned acquisition of the outstanding shares of Taas-Yuriakh, declined immediate comment. Unlike most Western markets, Russia has no hard and fast rule requiring a full offer on the purchase of more than 30 percent of a company’s stock.

Over 54 percent in Taas-Yuriakh is owned by private investors and 10.48 percent by UK-based emerging markets specialist Ashmore Group.

Led by Igor Sechin, Rosneft transformed into the world’s top oil company by output by snapping up TNK-BP in a $55 billion deal earlier this year.

Taas-Yuriakh initially plans to produce up to 1 million tonnes a year (20,000 barrels per day) from its East Siberian Srednebotuobinskoye field and aims to increase its output to 6.15 million tonnes (120,000 bpd) by 2016.

The field with reserves of almost 1 billion barrels is connected to the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean trunk by a 160 km pipeline.

New oil discovery in Irkutsk Oblast

As reported in Rosneft’ press release published on the corporate web site on 20 August 2013, a new oil and gas play was discovered on Mogdinsky license block located in the northern part of Irkutsk Oblast 160km north of ESPO.

According to the release the exploration well Mogdinsky-10 produced free-flowing gas condensate at the rate of 425 K m3/day and oil – 90m3/day in the course of testing Lower Ustkut horizon.

The well location was selected based on the fundamentally new geological model created by Rosneft’s subsidiary  RN Exploration LLC, which enabled Rosneft to tap a hydrocarbon deposit that was not encountered before.

The play’s reserves are estimated at over 4 mln. tonnes of oil and 2 bln. m3 of condensate.

Another discovery from the same horizon was made on Danilovo block where well No. 73 produced free-flowing oil at 165m3/day during the well test, which proves soundness of the new 3D seismic data-based geological model.

Original article at http://www.rosneft.ru/news/news_in_press/20082013.html

Rosneft promises to invest 1 trillion rubles in Eastern Russia

Rosneft may invest over 1 trillion rubles (31 billion dollars) in Eastern Siberia and Russian Far East in the next 5 years, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said during a video conference with President Vladimir Putin.  Sechin made his statement during a visit to Rosneft’s Orlan oil platform in the Sea of Okhotsk off Sakhalin Island.

“In the next five years, with your [Putin’s] support, and given that the tariff policy and the tax regime stabilize, our investment in East Siberia and the Far East in a conservative scenario may total 1 trillion rubles,” Sechin said.

According to Sechin, the development of Rosneft’s resource potential in the Far East will enable implementation of large-scale projects such as construction of an LNG plant in Sakhalin and a petrochemical complex in Primorsky Krai with the processing capacity up to 30 mln. tonnes.

In Sechin’s opinion, these projects should will spur the regional infrastructure development: construction of ports, power facilities, auto and railroads creating tens of thousands jobs.

Taxation in the Russian fuel and energy sector will be discussed at a meeting on the social and economic development of the Sakhalin Region later in the day, Putin said during a video conference.

“As for taxation, we’ll speak about this today at a meeting on the development of the Sakhalin Region. I’m sure solutions will be found that will be acceptable for both producers, the regional budget and the central budget,” Putin said.

Eastern Siberia: oil and gas

Eastern Siberia is Russia’s most promising exploration and production region with some analysts estimates of ‘undiscovered’ reserves of 80 billion boe. Eastern Siberian oil and gas provinces cover about 3.3 million square kilometres. They extend from the Arctic offshore in the north to Lake Baikal and the mountains of southern Russia. East Siberia Oil and Gas Provinces

The region is home to some of the Russia’s largest green field projects and is the main beneficiary of the recently introduced tax incentives, resulting in a benign fiscal regime and a substantially higher average operating cash-flows per barrel of oil sold.

Historically the region had limited exploration and development due to its size and remote location,  harsh climate, and lack of infrastructure. However, with the decline of production at mature fields in West Siberia, Russian government has has turned its attention to a number of new regions (Eastern Siberia, Timan-Pechora and Northern Caspian), of which Eastern Siberia is the most noticeable one given its proximity to customers in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the recent years the region has seen significant infrastructure development and booming licensing activity as a result of the construction of the Eastern Siberia – Pacific Ocean pipeline, which has created a direct link between Eastern Siberia and the fast-growing Asian markets. With major new infrastructure in place, Eastern Siberian production is forecast to grow rapidly in the next few years, peaking at over 1.3 million b/d around 2017.

The Russian Government has put a lot of trust in the Eastern Siberia by constructing ESPO pipeline and providing to oil producers preferential taxation regime (in the reference to production tax and export duties). Therefore, the region is expected to be the main source of Russia’s production growth over the next 10 years.

(Original article http://irkutskoil.com/section_29/section_64)

Discover Eastern Siberia

One of the motivations for creating this website was to increase international awareness of Eastern Siberia’s business and industrial potential. While occupying an area about the size of the European Union, the region boasts vast amounts of undeveloped natural and mineral resources such as timber, diaEast-Siberia.jpgmonds, gold, coal, fur, copper, oil, natural gas and uranium and yet has one of the lowest population densities in Russia. Harsh winters, underinvestment in infrastructure and industrial development and remoteness from major logistics hubs concentrated in the European part of Russia put extra burdens on local inhabitants and contribute to our depopulation. Nevertheless, the area has seen several economic booms throughout its history and is once again prepared to see another.

On this blog we invite you to explore new business opportunities in Eastern Siberia. We will share regional highlights and overviews of major industrial sectors. We are also happy to respond to your inquires to the best of our abilities. Please feel free to contact us if you need any assistance in finding your way around our vast frontier and our national treasure known as Eastern Siberia!