The licenses are expected to expand the resource base of Pao Novatek significantly to implement new Liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.
OOO Novatek-Yurkharovneftegas, with a one-time payment of RUB6.4bn ($109.5m), won the auction to go ahead with geological survey, exploration and hydrocarbons production for the subsoil area which includes the Verhnetiuteyskoye and the West-Seyakhinskoye fields.
Located on the Yamal peninsula, the acquired license area lies close to the South-Tambeyskoye field. The area which comes with a license term of 27 years has been estimated to hold hydrocarbon resources of 8,747mmboe as per the Russian resource classification.
OOO Arctic LNG-2, on the other hand, won the bid for the license to carry out geological survey, exploration and production of hydrocarbons for the subsoil area which includes the Shtormovoye field.
Located on the Gydan peninsula, the license area acquired by OOO Arctic LNG-2 is also partly contained offshore in the Gydan and Ob bays in the Kara Sea.
Bordering Novatek’s Utrennee field, the license area is estimated to have 7,932mmboe of hydrocarbon resources.
It comes with a license term of 30 years and the auction for it had ended in a one-time payment for the subsoil use for a sum of RUB1.04bn ($17.74).
Arctic LNG-2’s acquisition comes nearly two months after another Novatek subsidiary OOO Arctic LNG-1 had won the licensing bid of Gydanskiy subsoil area for 27 years.
Novatek’s upstream activities are focused in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region which is considered to be among the largest natural gas producing areas in the world. The region as per Novatek produces nearly 80% of the natural gas production in Russia, while accounting for about 16% of the entire gas produced in the world.
