Gazprom wins auction for Zapadno-Lensky section in Yakutia, increases price 180-fold

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) - Gazprom has been declared the winner of the auction for the Zapadno-Lensky section in the Sakha Republic, or Yakutia, Russia's Natural Resources Ministry told Interfax.

"There were 254 auction bids, and the final payment was 1,860,576,506.8 rubles," the source told Interfax. The starting price for the license was 10,313,617 rubles.

As reported, Gazprom's competitors in the bidding were Surgutneftegas ; Energy of Eastern Siberia LLC, which is managed by entrepreneur Georgy Kupriyanov's Primary Group LLC according to the Unified State Registry of Legal Entities (USRLE); Eastsib Geologorazvedka LLC, which the USRLE indicates is owned by Cypriot Eastsib Holding Company Ltd that in turn owns several Russian companies, including RNG-Holding LLC, formerly called Rosneftegaz; and Yakutia LLC.

The site has reserves of oil totaling 5.6 million tonnes of D1 and 700,000 tonnes of D2; gas totaling 3 billion cubic meters of Dl, 53.8 bcm of D1, and 11.8 bcm of D2; and condensate totaling 3 million tonnes of D1 and 800,000 tonnes of D2. The site is 3,132 square kilometers.

The Natural Resources Ministry and the Federal Subsoil Use Agency previously said that a large number of new discoveries of oil and gas are expected in the Far East in the coming years. Yakutia should particularly become one of the key regions planned for further exploration for hydrocarbons. The subsoil of Yakutia has currently been poorly explored. The previous conceptual geological generalizations were carried out here several decades ago. Gazprom is developing large gas fields and Surgutneftegas is developing oil in Yakutia.