Gazprom, Rosneft to Divide Russia’s Shelf

17.04.2008 (14:44) | Kommersant

The RF government has finally decided on division of oil and gas resources of the continental shelf.

The shelf will be developed by the state-controlled Gazprom and Rosneft that will split the resources on profile basis with Gazprom getting the better part of the wealth. The shelve resources are preliminary estimated at nearly 100 billion tons of oil and gas equivalent and the experts say the gas accounts for 75 percent of those tons.
The Federation Council approved yesterday amendments to the Act on Foreign Investments in Companies of Strategic Importance for the State Defense and Security. Passing the package of documents has actually shaped a new concept for exploiting the continental shelf of Russia, which areas are deemed the subsoil of federal significance, said Russia’s Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev.

Under the amendments, only Russia’s entities may work in the shelf provided they have at least five-year experience amassed in the country and the state owns more than 50 percent in them.

“In essence, the concept has been already adopted, the law reflects it. It spells out that the shelf will be developed by companies controlled by the government. They are clearly Gazprom and Rosneft,” Trutnev explained. Except these two giants, the government owns one more oil and gas company, Zarubezhneft; it has a five-year experience (the venture with Vietnam’s PetroVietnam) but outside Russia. The laws don’t extend to the Caspian shelf that is currently developed by LUKOIL, as the status of this sea, same as the Sea of Azov, is governed by the international laws.

But the regulations cover all other areas of Russia’s continental shelf. According to the Natural Resources Ministry there are around 450 sections there, including more than 100 ready for drilling. The aggregate resources are estimated at 98.7 billion tons of oil equivalent.

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