TNK-BP follows Surgutneftegas lead in eyeing NOC departure
MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - TNK-BP is considering bowing out of LLC National Oil Consortium (NOC), a number of sources familiar with the situation have told Interfax.
TNK-BP is withholding comment.
Sources said earlier that Surgutneftegas intended to sell its stake in NOC. Rosneft chief Igor Sechin has already said his company is ready to buy Surgutneftegas's stake.
In the NOC, with differing shares, are Rosneft, Lukoil , TNK-BP, Gazprom , and Surgutneftegas.
NOC owns 40% of joint Russian-Venezuelan venture Petromiranda, the other 60% of which belongs to Venezuela's state-run Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). Petromiranda is developing the Hunin-6 deposit in the Orinoco River basin, where oil production began late last month.
The Hunin-6 block's geological reserves amount to 52.6 billion barrels of oil, with 10.96 billion barrels recoverable. Daily production by the JV will be a planned 450,000 barrels by 2018, according to plan. The operational period is 25 years with the possibility of a 15-year extension. Total costs for the block's development are estimated at almost $25 billion.
