Russia’s huge OAO Gazprom, set to become even larger and come under majority control by the Russian government, is looking aggressive lately. Reports are surfacing of various partnerships with the majors, particularly in Sakhalin projects. The company is already inheriting a stake in Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-5 when it takes over Rosneft later this year.
Alexander Ananenkov, Gazprom’s chief executive, met with Jeffrey Woodbury, head of ExxonMobil’s Russian operations, on Nov. 2, and the Russian company said afterwards in a press release that they discussed Sakhalin-1, led by the U.S. firm.
The Russian statement also said the companies talked about cooperating on a system Gazprom is setting up to export gas from eastern Siberia and the Far East.
Sakhalin gas to China?
Also on Nov. 2, ExxonMobil confirmed talks with China National Petroleum Corp. on selling Sakhalin gas to China, rather than sending it to Japan in a 1,000-mile pipeline as the company had planned earlier, according to Itar-Tass. The Japan option might still be available as well, since drillers have found huge quantities of gas.
A few days earlier, Shell said Gazprom might take a stake in Sakhalin-2. That would strengthen the project, according to Shell executives. It would also be a plus for Gazprom, since Shell is a leader in LNG technology. On Sakhalin, Shell is leading the group building what will become the world’s largest LNG production facility. Gazprom sees LNG as a way to expand its sales to North America and other remote markets, and is eager to learn more about the technology.
TNK-BP adds to Siberian holdings
TNK-BP is moving aggressively in Siberia, despite a Gazprom roadblock in its attempts to sell gas from the Kovykta field to China.
The Russian-British venture announced Oct. 28 that it had acquired four companies holding Siberian production licenses. The fields in the Bolshekhetskaya depression hold an estimated 830 million barrels of liquids and 4 billion cubic feet of gas.
The major holdings acquired from Slavneft are the Tagulskoye, Suzunskoye, and Russko-Rechenskoye fields, near the Vankor deposit. TNK-BP also gets Payakhskoye, which is remote from the others but close to the year-round port of Dudinka.
TNK-BP plans to develop the resources in cooperation with Rosneft and Lukoil, which also have targets nearby. The area is expected to start producing in 2008, with peak production of 250,000 barrels daily.
Pipeline decision soon
Russian officials say they’ll decide by the end of the year just where a proposed Far East pipeline will run. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alekseyev also said Nov. 3 that the government will make a comprehensive decision that will also provide for transportation of gas towards the Pacific. He also said the project envisages an extension to China, according to an Itar-Tass report.
He dropped a hint that Russia is leaning more toward the Chinese side of the equation when he said that economic cooperation between Russia and Japan is lagging behind, compared to other countries.
China backstops with LNG
China is hedging its energy bets with plans to build a ring of LNG terminals along the coast.
China Daily reported Oct. 27 that China National Offshore Oil Corp. has reached tentative deals with local government for three terminals that would handle a total of 1.1 billion cubic feet of gas daily. Those terminals are in Liaoning, Jiangsu, and Guangdong provinces.
CNOOC is already building its first two terminals, in Guangdong and Fujian. Plans are set for terminals at Shanghai and Tianjin, the port city near Beijing, and the company is considering one in Zhejiang.
All those terminals will need supply. Sinopec Group has signed a $70 billion oilfield development contract with Iran. The memorandum of understanding signed Oct. 28 calls for the Chinese company to get 250 million tonnes of LNG over 30 years as part of the deal to develop the giant Yadavaran oilfield. Sinopec would also get 150,000 barrels of crude daily for 25 years at market prices, according to Iranian officials.
