Rosneft and CNPC Sign East Siberia Deal

Rosneft President and Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin and Chairman of the China National Petroleum Corporation Zhou Jiping have signed a Memorandum to expand cooperation in upstream projects in East Siberia.

The Memorandum describes a joint venture for upstream developments in East Siberia with Rosneft holding 51% and CNPC – the remaining 49%.

Development of Srednebotuobinsk field will serve as foundation for the future JV. On October 14, 2013 Rosneft consolidated 100% of Taas-Yuriakh Neftegazodobycha which holds the license to develop this field.

Srednebotuobinsk is a world class field located close to the ESPO pipeline. The field’s reserves placed in the State Reserve Register include C1+C2 oil and gas condensate reserves of over 134 mln tonnes and over 155 bcm of gas. Oil production at the field started in October 2013. Gas reserves development is of special importance in the context of supplies via the regional pipeline system that has been approved by the Government.

The consolidation of Taas is part of the commitment Rosneft has to invest in the development of East Siberia and the Russian Far East through production, refining and distribution assets. Taas consolidation offers the creation of a new oil and gas province through access to a large number of smaller fields in the region. The crude is ideally placed to go to Rosneft refineries and customers located in the region and for export to the Far East.

Commenting on the signing, Igor Sechin said: “The memorandum is another step in developing the strategic partnership between Rosneft and CNPC in various areas of cooperation. Our balanced strategic position will enable us to jointly develop and produce hydrocarbons, execute long-term supplies, jointly construct refining capacity and manage various assets. The development of East Siberia resource base will create additional opportunities for supplies to current and future refineries of Rosneft, including Komsomolsk refinery, Far East Petrochemical Company and Tianjin refinery, which will help meet growing demand for petroleum products in East Siberia and the Far East, as well as increase exports to China and Asia-Pacific region.

The agreements reached prove once again that Rosneft has a sufficient resource base to meet its strategic goals. The participation of our long-term partner in exploration and production activities will help speed up the launch of production at Taas and will facilitate the expansion of cooperation with CNPC in other areas.”

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LNG World News Staff, October 18, 2013; Image: Rosneft