Bloomberg: Russia to Use Oil Field Auctions to Take Edge Off U.S. Sanctions

U.S. and European Union moves to pressure Russia by threatening its oil output overlook one detail: a mass of conventional resources across Siberia, according to Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi.

Russia will distribute more oil and gas deposits found in traditional areas during the Soviet era, dulling the sting of U.S. and EU sanctions that aim to keep new provinces locked in layers of shale or under Arctic waters, according to Donskoi.

Dependence on oil and gas revenue is rising with Russia’s economy on the brink of recession and investors selling off assets as the U.S. and the EU accuse President Vladimir Putin of supporting insurgents in Ukraine. The measures, which set a clock ticking under Russia’s main budget earner, have already halted Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and state-run OAO Rosneft’s Kara Sea project and led Schlumberger Inc., the biggest oilfield services provider, to move U.S. and EU employees.
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