Gazprom Finalizes Deal To Buy Half Stake In Sakhalin 2

ENERGY TECH

Russia opened 37 new oil and gas fields in 2006
Moscow, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - Last year 37 oil and gas fields were opened in Russia, the Natural Resources Ministry said Wednesday. "In 2006, about a thousand exploration licenses were issued, while prospecting for oil and gas as a rule takes three to four years," the ministry's spokesman said. He said that initial exploration is sponsored through the federal budget, after which mineral developers obtain licenses for deeper prospecting at their own expense. The source said that in 2006, federal spending on mineral exploration increased 50% against 2005, to 16.4 billion rubles ($635.66 million), including 6.8 billion rubles ($263.57 million) on oil and gas exploration. The operations revealed 63 promising sites, and data was received to specify the size of Russian offshore areas in the Sea of Okhotsk and near the Mendeleev Ridge in the Arctic Ocean. Last year, most oil and gas prospecting operations were conducted in East Siberia and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) with a view to increasing the raw materials base along the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline under construction. The Web site of Russian energy giant Gazprom, whose current oil and gas reserves are estimated at $138.6 billion, provides a chart of proven global gas reserves for 2005, in which Russia comes second with 47.7 trillion cubic meters after Middle East countries. Russia's official sources said the country possesses over 10% of global oil, holding second place for the world's proven oil reserves.

by Staff Writers
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Apr 19, 2007
Gazprom has finalized a $7.45 billion deal to buy 50% plus one share in formerly Shell-led Sakhalin II with the partners in the vast hydrocarbon project off Russia's Pacific Coast.

"Joint work to complete the project is being carried out very proactively already," said Alexander Medvedev, deputy board chairman of the Russian energy giant.

Shell Russia President Christopher Finlayson said the project was 80% completed.

The partners said at the signing ceremony that liquefied gas (LNG) would be supplied in time and in full volume.

As well as two fields with estimated reserves of 150 million metric tons (1.1 billion barrels) of oil and 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas, Sakhalin II comprises a pipeline, an LNG plant - due to be launched in 2008 - and an LNG export terminal. Most of the LNG from the project will be exported to Japan.

Finlayson said Wednesday that shareholders were considering building an additional, fourth, gas liquefier at the plant, describing the project, implemented under a production-sharing agreement (PSA), as more difficult than any other.

The partners in the project were reported earlier Wednesday to have coordinated the costs of its second stage at $19.4 billion until 2014 following months of pressure last year from authorities over foreign investors' demands to double spending and environmental damage accusations.

Medvedev said Gazprom would appoint a general director of the LNG plant, who would oversee production from the beginning.

Medvedev and Stanislav Tsygankov, head of foreign economic activities in Gazprom, have been nominated as non-executive directors of the project operator, Sakhalin Energy.

"Gazprom, as a shareholder, is taking on the burden under the project as of tomorrow," Tsygankov said, adding it was unclear at the moment who would replace Ian Craig as Sakhalin Energy executive director.

Gazprom acquired the controlling stake in the project in December 2006. The stakes of the other partners, Royal Dutch Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi, halved to 27.5%, 12.5% and 10% respectively, as a result of the deal.

Source: RIA Novosti

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ENERGY TECH

Gas Cartel Looking More Attractive

Moscow (RIA Novosti) Apr 16, 2007
The sixth Gas Exporting Countries' Forum, which recently ended in Doha, the capital of Qatar, attracted much more attention than previous meetings. Before it started, there had been numerous signals that a gas analog of OPEC might be set up.

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