Novatek Wins Rights to Arctic Gasfield
Russia’s leading private gas exporter Novatek has won rights to the Soletsko-Khanaveyskoye field on the Gydan Peninsula, after bidding rubles 2.59bn ($39mn) at a state contest.
Novatek has obtained a 27-year exploration and production licence for the field, it said in a statement on August 30. The deposit holds 2.183 trillion m3 of gas and 212mn mt of liquids according to Russia’s reserve classification system.
Novatek is the dominant player on Gydan, where it is developing gas to underpin its Arctic LNG-2 project. Soletsko-Khanaveyskoye is near several Novatek fields, including Geofizicheskoye to the west, East-Burgornoye to the southwest and Gydanskoye to the northeast.
Licence terms for Soletsko-Khanaveyskoye state that a portion of its gas must be liquefied and exported by a company with regional experience in LNG production. This effectively barred Novatek’s rivals from participating in the subsoil auction. Novatek won the licence through its Arctic LNG-1 subsidiary. The only other bidder was another Novatek business, Novatek-Yurkharovneftegaz.