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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 03:50 GMT | more >>

Kremlin move 'may add to Gazprom swag'



By Upstream staff 

Russia is considering awarding federal status to 37 unexploited gas fields, which would allow the Kremlin to award the deposits without contest to a company of its choice, a move which could benefit gas giant Gazprom, a government source said today.

Analysts said Gazprom would be the most likely candidate to win the reserves, which have total proved and probable reserves of 11 trillion cubic metres, enough to boost Gazprom's already vast reserves by over a third.

"Gazprom appears to be the only candidate qualified to receive and develop reserves of this magnitude," Aton brokerage analyst Steven Dashevsky told Reuters.

Russia's Energy Ministry has suggested transferring the 37 fields to the state's list of strategic deposits. The proposal is now being considered by the natural resources and economy ministries, the government source told the news agency.

"If the suggestion is approved and the fields are given federal status, the government would decide on which company to hand the licences to without putting them up for a contest," the source, who works in one of the ministries, added.

Analysts said the fields' significant reserves and their location in under-developed regions might favour a large state company such as Gazprom.

"Given the absence of any meaningful economic competition during the upcoming distribution of licences for the strategic fields, the monopoly may receive these prospects at a nominal cost," Dashevsky added.

Last month Gazprom asked the government to give it out-of-competition rights to develop the Chayandinskoye deposit in Yakutia and gas blocks in the Sakhalin 3 project on the Pacific coast - all from the Energy Ministry's proposed list.

Gazprom declined to comment on whether it was interested in getting licences for the rest of the fields.


Tuesday, 03 July, 2007, 09:51 GMT  | last updated: Tuesday, 03 July, 2007, 09:51 GMT

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