Govt to discuss offshore operators in next 2 mths
MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) - The government intends during the next two months to discuss what oil and gas companies will operate on the Russian shelf, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said at a conference on oil production and service company dialog.
The Russian Natural Resources Ministry has drafted an offshore development program, which is with the government at present.
Most of the debate here is related to the pace at which the shelf is developed, Dvorkovich said. "There are various opinions on this. Some say the pace needs to be quicker, and other that it needs to be more moderate," he said, adding that the decision on who would be among the offshore participants depended on this.
"There's no final decision yet. The issue will be discussed in the next two months at the level of prime minister," Dvorkovich said.
The law currently states that only Russian companies with more than five years experience of offshore work can operate on the Russian shelf. Only Rosneft and Gazprom fit that bill. Private companies have asked the government to expand the list of companies with access to the shelf on several occasions, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the government until November 1 to analyze the issue of liberalizing access to the shelf.
Since 2008, Rosneft has received 14 offshore blocks without competition and Gazprom has received seven. If Rosneft is granted another 14 blocks, it could end up with more than 75% of subsurface resource blocks on the Arctic shelf.