Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), the world's largest producer of natural gas, has been rewarded eight licenses for fields on the Yamal Peninsula without tender, the RBC Daily said Thursday, citing an unnamed source in the company.
The eight fields, which has aggregate gas reserves of 2.8 trillion cubic meters, or almost 9% of Gazprom's current total reserves, are located on the Arctic shelf and on the Yamal Peninsula itself.
They are among 30 fields deemed by the Russian government to be of strategic importance to the country, meaning development rights can been awarded to state-controlled resources companies like Gazprom without a tender being held.
Government agencies are working on the final documentation and license fee calculation for the eight fields, which should be finalized within a month, the paper said.
On Wednesday, reports said that Gazprom has been rewarded the Kirinsky block in the Sakhalin-3 project on Russia's Pacific coast, also without a tender.
Last month, Gazprom was given the rights to develop the Chayanda gas field in Yakutiya.
The news follows Monday's signing of a law limiting foreign investment in key sectors of the Russian economy and preventing companies with foreign capital from participating in auctions for strategic fields.