Some 3 bln tonnes of oil, over 3 trln M3 found in Caspian shelf - Sergei Ivanov
ASTRAKHAN. May 4 (Interfax) - The hydrocarbon reserves found on the Caspian Sea shelf amount to 2.95 billion tonnes of oil and 3.1 trillion cubic meters of gas, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said.
"The Russian Natural Resources Ministry estimates that the recently explored reserves are: for oil - 2.95 billion tonnes, for natural and oil gas - over 3.1 trillion cubic meters," Ivanov said at a session of the Russian government's maritime board on Wednesday.
Western companies for their part assess the Caspian geological oil and gas reserves between 26 and 40 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, he said. In the future, these resources could prompt an economic boom in the region, Ivanov said.
By now ten fields have been discovered at the bottom of the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea, which could provide an annual oil production of around 40 million tonnes, the deputy prime minister said.