Page 7 - FSUOGM Week 23

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM
to close a deal with the Shanghai-listed group either. ese di culties have led Gazprom Ne to delay the Chonsky’s development. Once com- missioned, the project is slated to pump oil to China and other Asian markets via the nearby ESPO pipeline.
Domestic partnerships
Gazprom Ne is looking to forge new ties with some of its domestic rivals as well. It signed a deal at SPIEF with Novatek, Russia’s leading inde- pendent gas producer, to co-operate at upstream projects in the Arctic.
The pair, which are already partnered at Western Siberia’s Arcticgas gas complex, have not divulged which additional projects they are looking to work together at. But Russia’s Kom- mersant reported in April that they were consid- ering joint development of a cluster of blocks in the Kara Sea.
Accessing Russia’s Arctic shelf would repre- sent a watershed moment for Novatek, which like other non-state companies is barred from operating offshore licences in the area under Russian law. While there is nothing to stop private players from forming JVs with govern- ment-owned rms, the latter have traditionally been reluctant to share their Arctic resources.
Gazprom Ne is likely hoping to draw from
Novatek’s expertise in gas production and secure extra funding to cope with the challenges and high cost of Arctic o shore development. e pair may also have joint LNG development in mind.
e producer also agreed last week to set up a 51:49 partnership with Zarubezhne , a state- owned Russian operator, to explore and develop hard-to-recover resources in Western Siberia, including tight oil. ey are due to embark on a ve-year exploration campaign this year at a pair of blocks in Western Siberia’s proli c Khan- ty-Mansiysk region.
Gazprom Ne is at the forefront of Russia’s drive to develop tight oil at Bazhenov, the world’s largest shale formation. But the company is pre- vented from using Western technology and expertise to exploit the resource under interna- tional sanctions.
Russian oil companies are having to turn to more remote and challenging projects to keep production stable, as larger Soviet-era oil elds reach the end of their useful lives.
Gazprom Ne says it is on track to expand its hydrocarbon output to 100 million toe by 2020, up from 92.88 million toe last year, on the back of higher yields at its green eld sites in Russia’s far north. By forging its new partnerships, the com- pany is looking to ensure that this growth can be sustained in the longer term.™
Gazprom Neft operates Prirazlomnoye, the only offshore eld
in production in the Russian Arctic.
Another of Gazprom Neft’s core growth projects is the Novoportovskoye eld.
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