Page 145 - RusRPTAug22

9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
● Rosneft
Rosneft commenced drilling at Vostok Oil, with first production still slated for 2024, from both the Payakhskoye field and recently discovered Ichcheminskoye, reports Interfax, quoting Vladimir Chernov, General Director of the Vostok Oil project for Rosneft. He stated that by 2027 the project may have shipped up to 50mt (365mn bbl) of oil from the Vostok Oil project via the Northern Sea Route. Construction of the North Bay port and a connecting pipeline is under way, and both should be completed by 2024. Vedomosti reports that 80 wells are to be drilled by the end of this year, out of a long-term eventual total of 20,000 wells. The Vostok Oil project is slated to become Rosneft’s – and Russia’s – key oil project over the next 8 years. Previous projections by management put potential output at 1mmbpd around 2030, and a potential production plateau of 2.3mmbpd from the Payakha Group of fields. Exploration there continues, and more discoveries seem possible, even likely in the coming years. As far as the sensitivity to sanctions, Mr. Chernov stated that 98% of the materials needed for the project are of Russian origin. For example, the project uses Arctic-class drilling complexes manufactured by the Ural-Siberian Industrial Company, capable of drilling to depths of 6km (the initial wells are 3.5km deep).
● Novatek
Novatek in the 2Q22 boosted gas output 1.5% y/y to 20.25 bcm, per a company press release. The production of liquid hydrocarbons fell by 8.5% to 2.848mt (c240kbd). Overall, hydrocarbons remained flat at c1.72mmboe/d. Gas sales look less positive than production. Sales of gas fell by 4% y/y in the period, including drops in both Russia (-3.4%) and of LNG on international markets (-8.3%). The fall in domestic sales we attribute to substantially warmer weather in 2022 vs. a cold 2021, while internationally it seems likely that the onset of the Ukraine Crisis may have interrupted operations at Yamal LNG temporarily. The fall in liquids production is not surprising, as we expected output to slide as certain oil projects are now in decline. Liquids production may have been exacerbated by the lower LNG sales lowering the production of Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) and the imposition of export restraints via international sanctions, which reportedly have
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