Investment in Vostok Oil estimated at 12 trln rubles at development stage, project to be profitable - Sechin

VLADIVOSTOK. Sept 11 (Interfax) - Investments in the Vostok Oil project being carried out by Rosneft are estimated at 12 trillion rubles, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to the Zvezda shipbuilding complex in the Far East, where tankers are being built, including those for Vostok Oil.

"The project is self-sustaining. In total, we're talking about 12 trillion rubles for the development period. It is the largest oil and gas project in the world - 6.5 billion tonnes of oil and about 10 trillion cubic meters of gas," Sechin said.

Putin inquired about the amount of investment in the project after Sechin gave an estimate of the number of jobs at Vostok Oil (100,000 permanent jobs, and 400,000 when including contractors and hired organizations).

During the visit, the President also took part in the naming ceremony of two reinforced ice-class vessels. The shuttle tanker built by order of Rosnefteflot was named in honor of the Soviet writer Valentin Pikul. The vessel is designed for oil transportation and is able to navigate independently without icebreaker escort in the northern seas. The shuttle tanker is equipped with a bow loading device for receiving oil directly from a stationary sea ice-resistant berth.