Rosneft and CNPC collaborate for East Siberian upstream projects

Russia-based Rosneft and China National Petroleum (CNPC) have signed a memorandum to expand cooperation in upstream projects in East Siberia.

The memorandum describes a joint venture (JV) for upstream developments in East Siberia with Rosneft holding 51% and CNPC the remaining 49% stake.

According to Rosneft, development of Srednebotuobinsk field, which is located close to the ESPO pipeline, will serve as foundation for the future JV.

On 14 October, the company consolidated 100% of Taas-Yuriakh Neftegazodobycha, which holds the license to develop the field.

The Taas consolidation is part of Rosneft’s proposal to invest in the development of East Siberia and the Russian Far East through production, refining and distribution assets. A new oil and gas province will also be created through access to a large number of smaller fields in the region.

The crude is placed to go to the company’s refineries and customers located in the region and for Far East export.

Rosneft president and chairman of the management board Igor Sechin said the memorandum is another step in developing the strategic partnership between the company and CNPC in various areas.

"Our balanced strategic position will enable us to jointly develop and produce hydrocarbons, execute long-term supplies, jointly construct refining capacity and manage various assets," Sechin added.

The East Siberia resource base development is expected to create additional opportunities for supplies to existing and future Rosneft refineries, including Komsomolsk refinery, Far East Petrochemical Company and Tianjin refinery.

Taas also holds production licenses for the Central and Kurungsk blocks of the Srednebotuobinsk oil and gas condensate field.

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Image: Upstream projects in East Siberia. Photo: courtesy of Rosneft.