China's Sanbao to invest up to 4 bln rubles in small oil producer Tomskgeoneftegaz, production growth planned

TOMSK. June 30 (Interfax) - China's Xinjiang Sanbao Industrial Group Co., Ltd will invest up to 4 billion rubles in Tomskgeoneftegaz LLC, a small oil production company in the Tomsk region.

According to a court ruling terminating bankruptcy proceedings against Tomskgeoneftegaz due to a settlement agreement, in late 2024 Kontur T LLC (Tomskgeoneftegaz's founder, 75% owned by Canada's Auric Investment Capital and 24.75% by businessman Alexander Yakimenko), Collection Agency Eagle LLP (Kazakhstan, Tomskgeoneftegaz's majority creditor) and Xinjiang Sanbao signed a cooperation and financing agreement.

Sanbao's investments are expected to partially cover creditor claims.

According to its website, Xinjiang Sanbao was established in 1992 and operates across the energy, chemicals, agriculture and logistics sectors. The group implements projects in Central Asia with subsidiaries in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, participating in China's Belt and Road Initiative. Its total import-export volume stands at $12 billion.

The court documents indicate that Tomskgeoneftegaz holds licenses for the Kontorovichskoye and Sokonvarskoye fields in the Tomsk region's Alexandrovsky district. It was projected that in 2024, following additional exploration and field geophysical surveys, oil production (without investment in new well construction) would reach 46,200 tonnes solely through implementing measures aimed at enhancing reservoir recovery rates.

With planned investments, the Kontorovichskoye field's output should reach 77,000 tonnes in 2025. It is planned that production will eventually grow to 396,800 tonnes.

In addition, in late 2024, Kontur T, Eagle CA and Transline LLC signed a memorandum of understanding on oil supply, under which Transline committed to enter into a three-year oil supply contract with Tomskgeoneftegaz at "the maximum achievable prices within the Tomsk region's market." Furthermore, Transline is guaranteed to receive no less than 90%-95% of the extracted oil.

For repaying 3.9 billion rubles in debt, production was calculated at 46,200 tonnes.

As reported, in spring 2023 the Tomsk Region Arbitration Court declared Tomskgeoneftegaz bankrupt and initiated bankruptcy proceedings. The creditors' register included claims from Kazakhstan's Halyk Bank for 3.35 billion rubles, its now-former subsidiary Moskommertsbank for 270.6 million rubles, as well as claims from Kazakhstan's Temco Energy Group totaling 120.3 million rubles.

Halyk Bank and Moskommertsbank later transferred claims to Eagle CA.

The total creditor claims amounted to 3.9 billion rubles by the end of 2024, following the signing of a settlement agreement and termination of bankruptcy proceedings. The largest creditors were Eagle CA (3.6 billion rubles) and the Federal Tax Service's branch in the Tomsk region (255.7 million rubles). In addition, Tomskgeoneftegaz maintains a debt obligation to Temco Energy Group totaling 625.4 million rubles, though this liability was excluded from the settlement agreement.

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, JSC Tomskgeoneftegaz was registered in Tomsk in 1997. In 2010, the joint-stock company was reorganized into a limited liability company. The company holds subsoil use licenses for the Alexandrovsky district of the Tomsk region. It produced 16,220 tonnes of oil and gas condensate in January-June 2020.