Other foreign cos besides Total interested in Val Shatsky offshore project
MINERALNYE VODY. Dec 1 (Interfax) - France's Total is not the only foreign company interested in the Val Shatsky (Shatsky Ridge) offshore project in the Black Sea, Rosneft head Eduard Khudainatov said.
"Total has serious competitors, several companies are working in the data room," Khudainatov told reporters.
"Therefore, we are not making a decision yet. We want to make the best decision for the company. It will depend on the conditions, the technology that they offer for exploration, on investment, their experience, their qualifications," Khudainatov said.
He said the project to develop the Val Shatsky field is quite difficult, including in terms of geology. "There are difficult structures of geological deposits their very serious work is needed," Khudainatov said.
He said Rosneft might soon decide on a partner for Val Shatsky.
"We still have time. But I think that we will decide in the near future," Khudainatov said.
Rosneft and Chevron reached an agreement on the joint development of Val Shatsky in June 2010, but in March 2011 there were reports that the U.S. company might pull out of the project over differences concerning the geology of the field and assessment of reserves.
Val Shatsky LLC, which Rosneft acquired in 2007 among other former assets of the bankrupt Yukos, holds the license to the Zapadno-Chyornomorskaya section. There have been ten or so structures identified at the license block, the biggest of which are Severo-Chyornomorskaya, Mariya, and Sklonovaya. Water depth at the sections is 1.2-2 kilometers. The Zapadno-Chyornomorskaya section borders Rosneft's Tuapsinksy section.
Overall resources are estimated at 6.3 billion barrels of oil. Projected D2 hydrocarbon reserves at Val Shatsky are 1.456 billion tonnes of oil and 433 billion cubic meters of gas.
Total CEO Christophe de Margerie said recently that Total is considering joining Rosneft in the Val Shatsky project. Total and Rosneft are looking at various options for geological prospecting projects, and Val Shatsky is one of them, de Margerie said.