Gazprom Neft secures licences in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

Gazprom Neft has secured exploration and production rights for hydrocarbons in six licensed areas of the Karabash zone in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, Russia.

The rights were awarded through an auction conducted by subsoil resources management agency Rosnedra.

Gazprom Neft’s exploration and development director Alexei Vashkevich said: “The acquisition of new licences will make it possible to form a promising search cluster in the future.

“The Karabashsky areas are characterised by a rather low level of knowledge, so one can confidently talk about their resource potential only after carrying out seismic operations and drilling the first wells.

“Preliminary potential of production at these sites can be estimated in the region of 15-25 million tonnes of oil equivalent.”

Gazprom Neft and Spanish oil and gas firm Repsol hold licences for the exploration and production of two sections in the Karabash zone through a joint venture (JV) called Evrotek Yugra.

The partners manage Evrotek-Yugra on a parity basis, but Gazprom Neft has the option to increase its share in the JV to 50%.

By the end of next year, Gazprom Neft’s investments in the JV are expected to reach around RUR2.5bn ($40.24m).

Evrotek-Yugra is currently undertaking geological exploration in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous district.