EuroChem divests Severneft-Urengoy in Russia to Novatek

Global fertiliser company EuroChem Group has announced the sale of gas exploration and production company Severneft-Urengoy to Russian natural gas producer Novatek PJSC.

The company has not disclosed the price and terms of the deal.

In 2012, EuroChem acquired Severneft-Urengoy, the company operating in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area in Russia, in a deal valued at about $403m.

According to the Russian classification (categories C1, C2, C3), the total resource potential of the site as of 31 December last year is 918 million barrels of oil equivalent of hydrocarbons.

EuroChem Group CEO Dmitry Strezhnev said: “The sale of Severneft-Urengoy will streamline this business division and improve its profitability down the line, especially once our Astrakhan gas field is operational and supplying gas to our production facilities in Russia.”

After acquiring Severneft-Urengoy, EuroChem formed a dedicated Oil and Gas division, which comprised several other assets in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Following the sale, the company will now focus on exploration.

EuroChem will also develop gas condensate fields in Russia’s Astrakhan and Saratov regions, and the Kamenkovsky gas field in Kazakhstan, in a bid to better meet its internal gas needs.

These gas fields will continue to be developed, and EuroChem will buy gas from unaffiliated parties.

Headquartered in Switzerland, EuroChem Group operates production facilities in Belgium, Lithuania, China, Kazakhstan and Russia.