The Commission on Foreign Investments Monitoring of the Russian Government has postponed for three months its decision on the formation of a joint venture between Gazprom Neft, a Russian oil company, and Royal Dutch Shell, a global oil major, said Igor Artemyev, head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation. The new … Continue reading The Commission on Foreign Investments has postponed a JV deal between Gazprom Neft and Royal Dutch Shell →

Gazprom Neft, a Russian state-run oil company, became the first oil company in Russia to use locally developed “КРАБ” (CRAB) seabed sensors to conduct 3D seismic surveys on the company's Ayashskiy license block in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East. Previously Russian oil companies used predominantly imported sensors for offshore exploration, reports … Continue reading Gazprom Neft to conduct an offshore 3D seismic survey with new locally designed seabed sensors →

Rosgeologia, a Russian state-run geological exploration holding, and Gazprom bank have signed an agreement to create a joint fund to finance geological exploration activities in Russia. The fund will be set up in 2020, reports Rosgeologia. The agreement was signed by Sergey Gorkov, CEO and Chairman of Rosgeologia, and Andrey Akimov, Chairman of Gazprom Bank, … Continue reading Rosgeologia will create joint funds with Gazprom Bank and RDIF to finance geological exploration in Russia →

Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has announced that Schlumberger, a global oilfield services provider, withdrew its application to acquire a significant share in Eurasia Drilling Company (EDC), one of the biggest Russian drilling services providers, reports "Kommersant" business newspaper. The Commission on Foreign Investment of the Russian government approved the deal on 28 April 2018, … Continue reading Schlumberger withdraw its application to acquire Eurasia Drilling Company →

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih has announced that Saudi Aramco, a Saudi state-run oil company, may close the deal of purchasing a share in Novomet, a Russian artificial lift equipment manufacturer, in February 2019. In December 2018 Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said that Saudi Aramco and Novomet had … Continue reading Saudi Aramco to acquire share in Novomet, a leading Russian artificial lift equipment manufacturer →

The Minister of Energy of Russia Alexander Novak has announced that the Ministry and other government agencies have been working on a state programme aimed at increasing production and export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Another strategic goal of the programme is to ensure that Russian LNG projects will be fully supplied with locally developed … Continue reading Russia may fully localise development and manufacturing of LNG equipment in 5-7 years →

During the discussion in the Russian government on 18 September, Alexander Novak, the Minister of Energy of Russia, announced the Ministry's initiative to introduce certain tax benefits for oil companies operating in Western Siberia, reports Kommersant. According to Mr Novak, the proposed measures would provide incentives for the E&P companies to intensify geological exploration in … Continue reading Russian Ministry of Energy proposes new tax benefits to combat oil production decline in Western Siberia →

Gazprom, a Russian state-owned gas company, has started designing a new gas pipeline to the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), reports Kommersant. The new pipeline will be an extension of the existing Sakhalin - Khabarovsk - Vladivostok pipeline, which was initially designed to supply natural gas to Russia's Far East from the Sakhalin island. The … Continue reading Gazprom designs new gas pipeline to China via the ‘Eastern Route’ →

On 25 July 2018 Transneft, a Russian state-owned oil pipeline monopoly, paid off a $10 billion loan from the Chinese state bank CDBC ahead of schedule, said the company's CEO Nikolai Tokarev. Though he did not disclose the sum of the final payment, according to Kommersant, a Russian business newspaper, in July Transneft paid CDBC … Continue reading Transneft paid off a $10 billion Chinese loan ahead of schedule to mitigate currency exchange and sanctions risks →

In 2017 Russian oil and gas companies increased investments in exploration in production by 38% to $58 billion, International Energy Agency (IEA) reported. One of the reasons for such dramatic change was the Russian rouble appreciation in 2017, but this figure also reflects growing spendings by the Russian oil and gas majors due to the … Continue reading Russian oil and gas companies increased E&P spendings by 38% in 2017 →