Source: Russia not to auction Erginskoye oilfield in 2016

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (PRIME) – The Russian government will not be able to auction the Erginskoye oilfield located in the Barents Sea, a source familiar with the matter told PRIME on Wednesday.

“This is one of the few large fields that were left. It can be announced, but there is no time to hold it,” the person said.

The field’s recoverable reserves of oil amount to 18.842 million tonnes under the C1 category and to 83.877 million tonnes under the C2 category. Initially, the government planned to auction the right to develop the field for 5.35 billion rubles in early 2016, but the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry introduced the requirement of attracting foreign partners for development of the field.

After that, some media reported that oil major Rosneft’s CEO Igor Sechin asked President Vladimir Putin to abolish the request. In August, the ministry scrapped the requirement, but it is yet to announce the date of a new auction.

(63.7364 rubles – U.S. $1)

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