Gazprom Neft received a license for exploration in the Kara Sea

MOSCOW, 29 Sep — PRIME. Gazprom Neft has received a license for exploration at the Ust-Yenisei oil and gas subsoil block of federal significance in the waters of the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea until 2032, according to the state register of subsoil plots and licenses.

“Date of assigning the state registration number of the license: 09/28/2022. License expiration date: 09/23/2032”, – is indicated in the register materials for the Ust-Yenisei subsoil.

The resources of the site (category Dl) are 64 million tons of oil and 146 billion cubic meters of gas, according to D1 + D2 (prospective and forecast) – 20.9 million tons of oil and 130.3 billion cubic meters of gas.

In early September, the Russian government ordered that Gazprom Neft be given this site at its disposal without an auction, on a declarative basis, for geological exploration of the subsoil of internal sea waters and the territorial sea of ​​Russia in order to search for and evaluate hydrocarbon deposits.

According to the declarative principle, the company conducts geological exploration at the site, determines its reserves and puts them on the balance sheet of the State Reserves Commission. If the reserves are confirmed and the company discovers deposits, then it may be granted an exploration and production license in the future after paying a one-time payment.

At the moment, Russian legislation restricts the access of private companies to work on the shelf. In fact, only the state-owned Rosneft and Gazprom have this right. But the boundary of the sea shelf begins 200 nautical miles from the territorial sea of ​​the country, while the declarative principle in the waters of the seas extends to areas located in internal waters and the territorial sea. All Russian companies have the right to use subsoil in the water area up to the shelf boundary.