Gazprom . warned the government about a possible reduction in oil production at Sakhalin-2 due to a delay in approving reserves at the Piltun subsoil site, two federal officials familiar with the company’s appeal told Vedomosti In August, the project operator Sakhalin Energy submitted documents to the State Reserves Commission (GRC) to clarify the reserves of the Piltun section of the Piltun-Astokhskoye field, but their consideration was delayed. This could prevent the company from making production decisions to optimize the development of the site this year, oil production could decrease by 200,000 tons, and Sakhalin Energy's revenue by $70 million, Gazprom warned. Since the Sakhalin-2 project is being implemented under a production sharing agreement, payments to the state may also decrease. In 2015, Sakhalin Energy transferred $5.2 billion to the federal budget and the budget of the Sakhalin region, according to the operator’s report.

There's not enough gas
The capacity of the LNG plant at Sakhalin-2 is 9.6 million tons. By 2021, the partners are going to build the third stage - for 5 million tons. The resource base of the project is the Sakhalin-3 fields, where Gazprom discovered a large field ....
Read in full

There's not enough gas

The capacity of the LNG plant at Sakhalin-2 is 9.6 million tons. By 2021, the partners are going to build the third stage - for 5 million tons. The resource base of the project is the Sakhalin-3 fields, where Gazprom discovered a large field . In addition, Sakhalin Energy is negotiating gas supplies with Sakhalin-1 (Exxon Neftegaz Limited, Rosneft, Sodeco, ONGC), said Olivier Lazare, head of the Russian representative office of Shell.

A representative of the Ministry of Finance did not respond to a request. The Ministry of Economic Development did not receive the documents, the representative said.

The Sakhalin-2 project includes the development of the Piltun-Astokhskoye and Lunskoye oil and gas fields. Their recoverable reserves are estimated at 150 million tons of oil and 500 billion cubic meters. m of gas, Interfax wrote. In 2015, Sakhalin Energy produced 5.15 million tons of oil. The interlocutors do not say how exactly Sakhalin Energy wants to clarify reserves in the Piltun area. In 2015, about 1.2 million tons of oil and 438 million cubic meters were produced from the platform at the Piltun-Astokhskoye field. m of gas, says the Sakhalin Energy report for 2015. In the report, the operator says that in 2015 he drilled one production well on the site, which should provide additional oil production in the southern part of the field.

According to the procedure, Sakhalin Energy first sends documents to Rosnedra, and Rosnedra then sends them to the State Reserves Committee, says an interlocutor close to one of the departments. Rosnedra decided not to consider the documents without a decision from the government commission, but there is none yet, he explains. Thus, the documents have not yet been received by the State Reserves Committee, adds Vedomosti’s interlocutor. According to him, there is nothing special in the situation with Sakhalin Energy’s reserves - the departments are simply carrying out a formal procedure.

Sakhalin Energy

Operator of the Sakhalin-2 project
Shareholders: Gazprom (50% plus 1 share), Shell (27.5% minus 1 share), Mitsui (12.5%), Mitsubishi (10%).
Revenue (IFRS, 2015) – $6.2 billion.
Net profit – $1.9 billion.

Without approved project documents, Sakhalin Energy cannot develop production, but the company is not the first to face such a situation, says Sberbank CIB analyst Valery Nesterov. “We have thousands of licenses, many of which have been updated in recent years. Reserves are being recalculated; Rosnedra structures have a lot of work to do,” he notes. In addition, a new classification of reserves is now being introduced; the transition to a new system is likely to cause organizational failures, Nesterov believes. A reduction in production by 200,000 tons is a relatively small amount, insignificant both for Gazprom and for the country as a whole, Raiffeisenbank analyst Andrey Polishchuk is calm. This is a short story - a working moment, of which there are many in relations between oil and gas companies and the state, Nesterov agrees. No one is interested in slowing down production on the Sakhalin shelf, he is sure.

Representatives of Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Energy, Gazprom and Shell do not comment on the situation. It was not possible to obtain immediate comments from Sakhalin Energy.

There's not enough gas The capacity of the LNG plant at Sakhalin-2 is 9.6 million tons. By 2021, the partners are going to build the third stage - for 5 million tons. The resource base of the project is the Sakhalin-3 fields, where Gazprom discovered a large field .... Read in full

There's not enough gas
The capacity of the LNG plant at Sakhalin-2 is 9.6 million tons. By 2021, the partners are going to build the third stage - for 5 million tons. The resource base of the project is the Sakhalin-3 fields, where Gazprom discovered a large field ....
Read in full

Sakhalin Energy may reduce oil production