Page 4 - FSUOGM Week 36 2019

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM
Gazprom Neft eyes Arctic
venture with Novatek
Novatek would become the first non-operator to work in Russia’s offshore Arctic zone
RUSSIA
WHAT:
Gazprom Neft and Novatek are planning joint exploration work in the Chukchi Sea.
WHY:
Gazprom Neft lacks options for foreign partnerships because of sanctions.
WHAT NEXT:
Russia is set to increase the role of private operators in offshore Arctic exploration.
RUSSIAN oil and gas majors Gazprom Neft and Novatek have revealed a project to conduct joint exploration in the Chukchi Sea – an understud- ied area between Russia’s eastern Chukotka Pen- insula and the US state of Alaska.
If the pair follow through on their plans, Novatek will become the first non-state operator to gain offshore exploration rights in the Russian Arctic. Meanwhile, a proposal to liberalise access to the country’s shelf appears to be gaining trac- tion in Moscow.
The two companies intend to search for oil and gas at the North-Vrangelevsky block, Gaz- prom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. Con- firming his comments, Novatek head Leonid Mikhelson said the pair had “agreed on joint exploration ... we need to drill a few wells, carry out 3D seismic [surveys].” The work should begin next year, he said.
Gazprom Neft is currently the sole licence holder of North-Vrangelevsky, but intends to transfer a 49% stake in the project to Novatek, sources told Moscow business daily Kommersant.
North-Vrangelevsky spans 117,600 square km in waters depths ranging from 20 to 90 metres. Gazprom Neft won rights to the block at a state auction in mid-2013, and has since gathered around 11,000km of 2D seismic data. Gazprom Neft estimates North-Vrangelevsky’s in-place resources at 22bn barrels of oil equiv- alent (boe), including 14.7bn barrels of oil and condensate and 1tn cubic metres of gas.
Domestic partnership
Gazprom Neft has spoken before about bringing in a partner to develop the block. A year before securing the licence, it signed a memoran- dum with Royal Dutch Shell on joint upstream
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 36 11•September•2019