The company hopes to return Trebs and Titov peacefully

Bashneft-Polyus is no longer suing Rosnedra for the Trebs and Titov fields. The joint venture of Bashneft and LUKOIL withdrew its claim against the department, in which it challenged the transfer of the license from Bashneft-Polyus back to Bashneft, hoping to obtain a license on the basis of instructions from the government commission on the fuel and energy complex. To do this, Rosnedra must make changes to the terms of the license, but when this will happen is unknown, so the fact that the claim is withdrawn surprises industry lawyers.

Bashneft-Polyus, a joint venture between Bashneft and LUKOIL, on Friday dropped its lawsuit challenging Rosnedra's decision to revoke the joint venture's license for the Trebs and Titov fields. In May, the department returned the license to the previous owner, Bashneft. The reason was that Bashneft-Polyus does not have refining capacity, and according to the terms of the competition for the fields, the license holder must itself process 42% of the oil produced. The essence of Bashneft-Polyus's claim against Rosnedra, according to the joint venture's lawyers, was that "Rosnedra did not have the authority to cancel the order; it could only be canceled in court."

However, at a court hearing on Friday, a representative of Bashneft-Polyus filed a motion to terminate the proceedings. The court granted the request. “We believe that this issue can be resolved out of court, since the government commission on the fuel and energy complex has instructed Rosnedra to make changes to the terms of the license for the fields,” Bashneft explained. According to Kommersant sources close to the company, it expected the changes to be made back in August, but the process “for some reason dragged on.” The telephone numbers of the LUKOIL press service were not answered on Friday.

The Trebs and Titov fields are considered among the most promising in Timan-Pechora. Their recoverable reserves in category C1+C2 are estimated at 140.06 million tons (together with category C3 they reach 199.3 million tons), while the production level can reach 10 million tons per year. At the end of 2010, Bashneft won the competition for the right to develop the fields, offering 18.476 billion rubles. (the starting payment was 18.171 billion rubles). In February 2011, the company received a license for 25 years, and on April 15, 2011, Bashneft and LUKOIL signed an agreement to create a joint venture for field development.

The license was reissued to Bashneft-Polyus LLC in December 2011. Two weeks later, LUKOIL signed a purchase agreement for 4.768 billion rubles. 25.1% Bashneft-Polyus. In turn, Bashneft-Polyus purchased 29 prospecting and exploration wells at these fields from LLC LUKOIL-Komi for $60 million.

Problems with Bashneft-Polyus's license began in March 2012, when first State Duma deputy Sergei Karginov, and then Bashneft minority shareholder Svetlana Proskuryakova accused the company of illegally re-issuing a license for its joint venture with LUKOIL. The Ministry of Natural Resources then considered these accusations fair, and on May 18, Rosnedra revoked the license, returning it to Bashneft. In May, LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov and Bashneft President Alexander Korsik approached Vladimir Putin with a request to resolve the situation. In June, the government commission on the fuel and energy complex discussed it and sided with the companies, instructing Rosnedra to make changes to the terms of the license. In July, Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoy confirmed that the license would be returned to Bashneft-Polyus.

Last week, explaining the reasons why Bashneft provided Bashneft-Polyus with a loan of 36 billion rubles, company representatives told Kommersant that the joint venture “is operating in the same mode while awaiting a license: one exploration well has been drilled , two more are in the process, former LUKOIL wells are being reactivated, and a site for a central collection point is being built.”

The likelihood that Rosnedra will soon give the license to Bashneft-Polyus is very high, says Denis Borisov from Nomos Bank. However, the director of the judicial department of TNK-BP, Eduard Godzdanker, clarifies that the withdrawal of the claim will not formally speed up the process of Rosnedra introducing changes to the license for the deposits. Therefore, the lawyer adds, “the reasons why the company did this are not clear.”

Anna Solodovnikova

Bashneft-Polyus will do without trial