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Russia, China in Deal to Develop East Siberia Oil, Gas Reserves

Russia, China in Deal to Develop East Siberia Oil, Gas Reserves
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Παρ, 18 Οκτωβρίου 2013 - 18:37
Russia and China's largest energy companies on Friday announced a "breakthrough" deal paving the way for joint development of massive energy reserves in eastern Siberia, in a sign that Moscow is overcoming its fear of Chinese encroachment on Russia's Far East.
Russia and China's largest energy companies on Friday announced a "breakthrough" deal paving the way for joint development of massive energy reserves in eastern Siberia, in a sign that Moscow is overcoming its fear of Chinese encroachment on Russia's Far East.

Their preliminary agreement illustrates how Moscow is increasingly looking to Asia for customers for its abundant energy reserves, and for funding to develop them. Russia's needs tie in with expected long-term demand growth in oil and gas-deficient China and elsewhere in East and South Asia, and slowing energy consumption in many industrialized nations.

Russian state oil giant OAO Rosneft and China National Petroleum Corp. said that under a Memorandum of Understanding signed during Rosneft President Igor Sechin's trip to Beijing on Thursday they would explore for, and produce oil and gas in eastern Siberia .

Rosneft and CNPC would form a joint venture, the companies said Friday in separate statements, with Rosneft taking 51% and CNPC holding the rest.

They plan to develop an oil field that Rosneft gained full control of this week by consolidating 100% of the Taas-Yuryakh oil firm, Rosneft said. CNPC said that the two would also collaborate closely to develop several large-scale oil and gas fields.

"The oil produced will be used to meet the energy demand in eastern Russia and then exported to China and other Asia-Pacific countries through the Russia-China crude pipeline," CNPC said. The agreement "is a new breakthrough reached by the two sides in upstream cooperation, and will surely promote future cooperation in the downstream businesses and other sectors," it added.

Rosneft, the world's largest listed crude producer, agreed in June to increase crude-oil exports to China by 300,000 barrels per day in a deal valued at $270 billion. Moscow has been reluctant to give China direct access to its oil resources through direct stakes in oil fields, but recently has been more flexible.

In June, it approved CNPC taking a 20% stake in OAO Novatek's Yamal liquefied natural gas project in Russia 's Arctic . It isn't the first such investment, though. Sinopec Group has also had a stake with Rosneft in a small project called Udmurtneft since 2006.

The growth in Russia-China energy links also comes at a time global energy trade flows are being rechanneled by growing competition from huge reserves of hydrocarbons now being freed from shale rock formations in North America . Coal and gas normally sold to the U.S. is being displaced to Europe , in turn undermining demand for Russian gas which normally meets about a quarter of Europe 's needs.

"Geopolitically, Russia realizes it has to work with China ," said Ildar Davletshin, an energy analyst with Renaissance Capital in Moscow . "In Europe , Russia is being squeezed and all the demand is shifting toward Asia , so it is getting harder for Russia not to invite China in. The Chinese have always been knocking on the door."

In the past, Russian officials said they sought Western energy giants as partners for their technical expertise in areas like offshore development, where Russian companies had little experience. Chinese companies, meanwhile, usually were limited to deals where they provided capital and markets, but didn't get large equity stakes.

The energy trade between Russian and China could quadruple by 2025, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a September study.

"As legacy West Siberian oil production declines, Russia is undergoing a period of renewed interest in exploring and developing the energy resources of its Far East and East Siberia regions. These key provinces are sparsely populated, highly resource-rich and adjacent to a large and resource-hungry Chinese population, and their development is a major priority for the Russian government," said Wood Mackenzie analyst Paul McConnell.

Earlier this week, Vagit Alekperov, president of OAO Lukoil Holdings, Russia 's second-largest energy company, said in Beijing that he didn't foresee any barriers to Chinese investment in Russian oil projects.

It's not only oil and gas. Last month, state investment fund China Investment Corp. took control of a 12.5% stake in Russian potash producer Uralkali JSC.

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