Rosnedra approves reissue of license for Untygei hydrocarbon block from Canadian entity of Neftisa to new subsidiary in Russia
MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Subsoil Resources Agency (Rosnedra) has backed the reissuance of the subsoil license for the Untygei hydrocarbon block from the Canadian CanBaikal Resourses Inc. to the Russian subsidiary of UntygeyNeft LLC, the Natural Resources Ministry told Interfax.
"Rosnedra has decided to reissue the license and currently we are working on the reissuance of the license for subsoil use at the Untygei site to UntygeyNeft LLC," a source at the agency said.
Changes to the law on subsurface resources that prohibit the issue of resource development licenses to foreign companies went into effect on June 28. For previously issued licenses, in order to continue working on licensed properties foreign companies must set up legal entities in Russia and transfer the resource rights to them.
The law requires that 32 licenses be transferred from foreign to Russian legal entities, Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov said at a meeting of the inter-faction working group on resource use. In November, Rosnedra transferred six licenses for the Salym project owned by a joint venture between Gazprom Neft and Shell (SPB: RDS.A) from Netherlands-based Salym Petroleum Development N.V. to Russian firm Salym Petroleum Development LLC. A decision is also expected on a seventh license. Applications for reissuance have not been filed for another six licenses under Rosnedra jurisdiction, while decisions on the remaining 19 licenses must be made by regional authorities.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, CanBaikal Resourses Inc. and JSC NK Neftisa are equal founders (50% each) of UntygeyNeft, registered on September 20, 2022.
CanBaikal Resources is also a founder of CanBaikal LLC, which has been part of Neftisa group since its foundation, according to its official website. The company is the operator of four fields, including the Untygei field.
Neftisa Oil Company was founded in 2008 by businessman Mikhail Gutseriev. The group of companies includes more than 20 enterprises, most engaged in production. The geography of their activities covers several major regions of the Russian Federation: the Samara, Novosibirsk and Tyumen Regions, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District, the Perm Territory, the Udmurt Republic and the Komi Republic.
The Untygei field is located in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District. In 2022, CanBaikal expects production at that site and the Zapadno-Malobalykskoye field to reach 1.455 million tonnes of oil, with 75 horizontal wells commissioned.