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Foreign Cos May Bid for Sakhalin-3 - Governor

Posted on: Wednesday, 23 November 2005, 21:00 CST

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Nov 23 (Interfax) - The rights to the Sakhalin- 3 project will probably be sold at a public auction, in which Russian and foreign companies alike would be able to bid, Ivan Malakhov, the Sakhalin region's governor, told a press conference.

Malakhov said he discussed the issue with Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko recently.

He said Sakhalin-3 had earlier been considered to be a strategic project, which would be handed to Russian companies without a tender.

Russia could restrict access by wholly owned foreign companies to four major hydrocarbon projects, judging by the "strategic deposit" concept that the Natural Resources Ministry unveiled in October.

The ministry said it planned to classify fields containing more than 150 million tonnes of oil and more than 1 trillion cubic meters of gas as strategic, and restrict access by foreign companies to these fields.

That would put the Sakhalin-3 project off limits to wholly owned foreign companies: the project's Eastern Odoptu, Ayash and Kirinsky blocks contain probable recoverable reserves of 620 million tonnes oil, 767 billion cubic meters (bcm) gas and 53 million tonnes gas condensate.

These companies would not be able to develop fields in the Barents Sea. Nor would they gain access to the major Trebs and Titov fields in the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province: Trebs contains C1 reserves of 38.65 million tonnes and C2 43.819 million tonnes and Titov holds C1 51.077 million tonnes and C2 6.513 million tonnes.

In addition, the Chayadinskoye field in Yakutia with its 1.9 trillion cubic meters of gas could also be classified as strategic.

Sakhalin-3 may be auctioned in 2006.

Source: Daily News Bulletin; Moscow - English

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