Rosneft, BP Finalise Siberia JV
Russian oil giant Rosneft and BP announced October 31 they had completed formation of their new venture, Yermak Neftegaz, to explore Russia’s West Siberian and Yenisey-Khatanga oil and gas-condensate basins. It follows their agreement to set up the joint venture signed in St Petersburg in June.
Yermak Neftegaz, owned 51% by Rosneft and 49% by BP, will focus on onshore exploration of two areas totaling 260,000 km2. Starting this winter, it will carry out further appraisal by starting the drilling of the Bkl-21 well on the Baikalovskiy field (discovered by Rosneft in 2009) in the Yenisey-Khatanga area and will start seismic surveys of the Zapadno-Yarudeiskoye block in the West Siberian area.
Yermak Neftegaz was among the 58 agreements signed by Rosneft at this June's St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (Photo credit: Rosneft)
Prior to June, the two partners decided to take part in an auction for two licenses: Verknekubinskiy and Posoyskiy, in the Yenisey-Khatanga area. On October 28, Yermak Neftegaz won the auctions for both, which means the joint venture holds seven licenses for the use of subsurface resources.
BP has committed to provide up to $300mn in two phases as its contribution to the cost of the venture’s exploration activities. Rosneft will contribute licenses and operational experience in the region, with initial drilling to be performed by Rosneft subsidiaries.
Mark Smedley