PRESS: Rosneft CEO asks for tax benefits for West Siberia gas proj

MOSCOW, May 12 (PRIME) -- Russian oil major Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin has asked Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to provide the company with tax benefits for hard-to-recover gas deposits of the Berezovskaya Formation in West Siberia, RBC Daily reported Tuesday citing the relevant letter.

The Berezovskaya Formation has complex geological features and requires innovative technologies, and therefore commercial production of gas from these deposits is unprofitable without benefits, Sechin said in the letter. He has proposed to reduce the mineral extraction tax (MET) rate for such deposits by setting a coefficient of 0.21 for it. The similar benefit has been applied since 2013 for other Rosneft’s hard-to-recover gas reserves – the Turonian deposits.

The potential resources of the Berezovskaya Formation within Rosneft’s sections are estimated at 1.3 trillion cubic meters of gas. The company has already developed production technology and received gas inflow at three fields.

The Kharampurskoye field, where British oil and gas giant BP has 49%, may become the main recipient of such benefits, the daily said.

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