Gazprom and Rosneft are officially the only companies with the right to explore the Russian Artic shelf, as they both received exclusive extraction licenses in return for large cash payments.
In 2009, Rosneft agreed to pay 1.4 billion roubles ($450 million)
and Gazprom 1.2 billion in a resolution passed by the state Duma,
but the exact amount paid on Wednesday for the licenses is
unknown.
Russia has passed a law that only companies in which the state
owns more than half and have at least 5 years of Arctic
experience are eligible for permits
Lukoil, the country’s second largest oil company, is publicly
owned, and Sugtneftegas, known to have close ties with the
Kremlin, is also publicly owned, and therefore not up for a
permit.
Tatneft is the country’s sixth largest and operates out of the
Republic of Tatarstan, which is also the company’s primary
shareholder.
In March, it was reported the companies were in competition for
the same areas of the shelf, but in late May, in a decree signed
by Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev, exploration and extraction
rights have been awarded to Rosneft for two deposits in the
Barents Sea, and three in the Kara Sea have been given to
Gazprom.
Earlier this year, the government approved bids by both companies
for offshore fields and handed Gazprom licenses for 17 offshore
sites and Rosneft 12.
Another area in the East Siberian Sea is likely to be split
equally between the two companies, Natural Resources Minister
Sergey Donskoy said in May.
The Russian government has urged the two energy giants to team up
in a joint venture, in order to efficiently develop and explore
the uncharted waters in the Siberian Sea.
The two fields granted to Rosneft, the Albanovsky and Varneksky
sections of the Arctic shelf, have a combined area of 64,329
square meters. An assessment in 2009 estimated that the
Albanovsky section of the shelf contained 144.2 million tonnes of
oil, 43.3 million which is extractable, and 1,254.4 billion cubic
meters of gas. The deposits at Varnetsky are estimated to be
2,081 million tonnes, of which 542 million is extractable.
The Maritime, Nyarmeisky and Skuratovsky deposits partitioned to
Gazprom total 7,339 square kilometers. Gas deposits are pegged at
2,867 billion cubic meters.
On Wednesday Gazprom held its annual shareholder’s meeting, as it
celebrates its 20th anniversary. At the conference, management
touted that Gazprom is the largest gas supplier to the domestic
market, citing its 73.1 percent market share in 2012.
Rosneft, fresh from its TNK-BP acquisition in March, is challenging Gazprom as largest producer, and hopes
to seize at least 20 percent of the natural gas market by 2020,
Bloomberg reports.
Rosneft has already attracted a range of foreign partners in its
offshore ventures, striking deals with Royal Dutch Shell, Italy’s
Eni, Norway’s Statoil, and Japan’s Inpex.
Gazprom is keen to retain its share of the Russian gas market and
has attracted Shell as an offshore partner.