Gazprom Neft says resumes work on new shelf projects

MOSCOW, Dec 21 (PRIME) -- Russian oil major Gazprom Neft is resuming work on its new shelf projects by removing the Neptun and Triton fields in the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Yuzhno-Obsky site from “smart pause,” Gazprom Neft Shelf CEO Igor Rustamov told PRIME in an interview on Monday.

“The top-priority projects are projects that we are going to launch presumably until 2030, in which the subsoil has already been substantially studied. These include two new deposits Neptun and Triton in the Sea of Okhotsk,” Rustamov said.

The company is also currently preparing the Yuzhno-Obsky site for 3D seismic works, he added.

Rustamov also said that Gazprom Neft plans to create a joint venture with gas producer Novatek in the first half of 2021 for work on the Severo-Vrangelevskoye license block on the shelf of the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic.

He also said Gazprom Neft believes that the complexity of the Prirazlomnoye field on the Arctic shelf should be higher to equalize the tax burden and investments, and is ready to discuss this with the government.

The company projects that oil production at the Prirazlomnoye field will rise by 3% to 3.25 million tonnes in 2020, Rustamov said.

Gazprom Neft believes that the existing benefits for the Russian shelf may not be enough, and additional mechanisms are needed to stimulate geological exploration, Rustamov said.

“Given the current situation, not even benefits are required, but additional incentive mechanisms to reinvest funds in the development of domestic service companies and companies engaged in geological exploration,” he added.

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