Rosneft in negotiations with Mubadala Petroleum on Taas-Yuryakh, Verkhnechonskoye
MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax) - Rosneft is holding negotiations with Mubadala Petroleum (UAE) on the project to develop the Srednebotuobinskoye and the Verkhnechonskoye fields in West Siberia, the press service for the Russian president said on the eve of Vladimir Putin's meeting with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed Al Nahyan.
The operator of Srednebotuobinskoye is Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazdobycha.
In May 2014, Rosneft and MDC Oil & Gas Holding Company LLC (Mubadala Petroleum) signed an agreement on strategic cooperation in geological surveys, exploration, production and sales of hydrocarbons. The agreement provides for the possibility of Mubadala Petroleum participating in the development of Rosneft assets in Eastern Siberia.
Rosneft is now holding negotiations with Cayman Islands-based Skyland Petroleum Group (SPG) on the sale of a stake in Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazdobycha. SPG might buy 10% to 29% of Taas-Yuryakh, with a 29% stake valued at about $1.1 billion, SPG founder and president David Robson said earlier.
Rosneft initially planned to sell 49% of Taas-Yuryakh to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), but the companies could not agree on a price. In June 2015, Rosneft and SPG signed the main conditions of an agreement on a proposed joint venture based on Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazdobycha.
Rosneft earlier sold a 20% stake in Taas-Yuryakh to its shareholder BP for $750 million. BP paid Rosneft $150 million in the second quarter of 2015 and will pay the remainder after receiving approval from regulators, by the end of the year.
The company holds the license to the Srednebotuobinskoye field, which is located 169 km from the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean oil pipeline and has a pipeline connecting it to ESPO near Lensk. The field has C1+C2 category recoverable oil and gas condensate reserves of more than 134 million tonnes and gas reserves of more than 155 billion cubic meters booked in the state register of reserves. Oil production at the field began in October 2013.
The license to the Verkhnechonskoye oil and gas condensate field in Irkutsk Region is owned by Rosneft subsidiary Verkhnechonskneftegaz (VCNG). This field had C1 category reserves of 153.307 million tonnes of oil and 15.58 billion cubic meters of gas and C2 reserves of 49.829 million tonnes and 70.322 bcm respectively as of the beginning of 2012.
