Bit bites: for Gazprom Neft
Gazprom Neft thinks big
Gazprom's oil arm Gazprom Neft is planning to more than double oil output by 2020 to 2 million barrels per day, up by a quarter from its previous forecast.
Roman Yefimychev, head of Gazprom Neft's petrochemical department, told a conference his company would be producing 100 million tonnes of oil per year by 2020, a 25% increase from its previous forecast of 80 million tonnes.
Gazprom Neft has been fighting declining production since its former owner, billionaire Roman Abramovich, sold the firm, then called Sibneft, to the gas giant in 2005.
The company, which produced around 43 million tonnes of oil in 2007, flat from 2006, has said it expects Gazprom to hand over the right to develop all of Gazprom's 11 oil fields within the next two to three years, which might help boost production.
Gazprom produced 13.2 million tonnes from the deposits last year.
Gazprom Neft has said it plans to invest up to $4 billion per year to 2020, or around $50 billion, to boost output.