Zarubezhneft now controls 40% of this field, while Statoil owns 30%. Photo: Barents Observer

$60 million for Kharyaga stake

Statoil becomes biggest foreign owner of tundra oil field as Russian state company Zarubezhneft buys 20 percent stake from Total.
August 05, 2016

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Zarubezhneft paid about $60 million for the stake, a source in the oil industry told Prime.ru. The shares were officially transferred from Total to the company on Monday this week, a press release from the company informs.

The project, which is run on a Production Sharing Agreement, has been operated by Total since launch in 1999. Following the deal, Statoil becomes the biggest foreign owner with its 30 percent stake. Total is down to 20 percent, while new project operator Zarubezhneft controls 40 percent.

Total has over several years been under major pressure from the federal government. In early 2015, the Ministry of Energy pushed for the ejection of the French from the project, arguing that they had failed to meet production targets and that recent field investments had been unsuccessful.

The Kharyaga partners have not been able to boost production in accordance with original plans. Peak production of 3,2 million tons planned for 2013 has been downscaled to about 2 million tons planned for 2017-2018.

The field is located in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, a highly oil-rich Arctic region. It holds about 49 million tons of extractable resources.

In 2012, the Kharyaga field was connected by pipeline to the Varandey terminal on the nearby Arctic sea coast.

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