Zarubezhneft eyes Koryakiya 1 and 2 offshore fields - minister
MOSCOW. Sept 20 (Interfax) - Zarubezhneft is interested in exploring the Koryakiya 1 and Koryakiya 2 offshore sections in the Bering Sea, Russian Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi told Interfax.
Donskoi said the company had expressed an interest in the sections, but had not yet filed a request for them with the Russian Federal Subsurface Resources Agency (Rosnedra).
"We've passed materials to the government regarding admitting Zarubezhneft to the shelf. They confirm that Zarubezhneft subsidiary Arktikmorneftegazrazvedka has sufficient offshore experience. It's now for the government to decide," he said.
In the past, the company expressed an interest in the Tyulenii section in the Caspian Sea, Fedynsky in the Barents Sea and Komsomolsky in the Pechora Sea, but in the end Rosneft applied for the licenses.
Rosnedra included Koryakiya 1 and Koryakiya 2 in a list of properties that could be licensed for exploration without a tender or auction if only one company were to show an interest back in 2008. But two state-owned companies have - Rosneft and Gazprom subsidiary Kamchatgazprom - and Rosnedra was therefore supposed either to announce a tender or delay issuing the license.
Rosnedra is currently reappraising reserves at Koryakiya 2.