Page 8 - EurOil Week 20 2021

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil

Biden not to sanction the Russian

company building Nord Stream 2

US THE Biden administration has decided not to involved in the construction of the pipeline –
sanction the Russian company building Russia’s Nord Stream 2 AG, which is a registered Swiss
The administration will controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, in an firm whose parent company is the Russian gas
sanction some smaller effort to please German partners who want to see giant Gazprom.
entities instead. the pipeline finished, two sources familiar with There was an intense back-and-forth over
the decision told CNN on May 18. the decision and during the process the State
Instead the administration will sanction Department prepared an assessment of what
some of the smaller entities involved in the pro- action would have been required to stop the
ject, including some Russian companies and pipeline, though the administration decided not

ships that have been helping in the construction. to pursue that course, according to one source
The decision is seen as a major concession to familiar with the process.
Germany and a major win for the Kremlin. It is It decided that stopping the pipeline was less
also another sign of the Biden administration’s important to the White House than avoiding
attempts to improve relations with the EU and damaging US-German relations, the key Euro-
its willingness to do a deal with Russia to end the pean ally for the US in Europe and de facto leader
current tensions. of the EU, the source said. The second source
The US administration has decided to issue a familiar with the situation said the decision was
national security waiver for the major company ultimately the White House’s call. ™

INVESTMENT

Repsol sheds stake in Russian

upstream venture

RUSSIA SPAIN’S Repsol is reportedly selling its stake in enterprises have accumulated licences for a
an upstream joint venture in Russia with local number of blocks in the Kondinsky district of
Repsol has been scaling partner Neftegazholding. Russia’s main oil province of Khanty-Mansiysk.
back in Russia as it The company is selling its 49% interest in The pair are continuing work appraising the 2014
prepares its business for AR Oil & Gas to Alliance Oil, a subsidiary of Ourinskoye oil find, estimated at the time of its
the energy transition. Neftegazholding, which in turn is controlled discovery to hold 32mn tonnes (235mn barrels)
by Russian businessman Eduard Khudainatov, in C1+C2 oil resources. They had targeted a final
Spanish news agency Europa Press reported cit- investment decision (FID) at Ourinskoye by the
ing sources. AR Oil & Gas holds licences for 20 end of 2019, although this step was not taken.
small oil and gas blocks in the regions of Tatar- All told, Repsol spent a mere €1.9mn
stan and Samara. ($2.3mn) on its exploration activities in Rus-
Repsol has been scaling back in Russia as part sia during the first quarter of this year, versus
of efforts to prepare its business for the energy €18.3mn during the whole of 2020.
transition. In November it announced a medi- The divestment by Repsol comes a week after
um-term strategic plan calling for the sale of reports emerged that BP had withdrawn from
upstream assets and for its exit from half of the plans to develop two blocks in Yakutia in the Far
countries in which it operates, reducing to 14. East with its partner Rosneft. ™
The Spanish oil producer last year opted
against taking a 25% interest in a joint venture
with Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell to explore
two large oil and gas blocks on the Gydan Penin-
sula. And in March, it closed its subsidiary Rep-
sol E&P Eurasia in Moscow.
Repsol has retained interests in two explo-
ration joint ventures with Gazprom Neft, Yev-
rotek-Yugra and ASB Geo, however. The two

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 20 20•May•2021