PSAs have been used as an instrument to attract investment in minerals extraction, and were introduced when oil prices were relatively low in the 1990s. The agreements made foreign investors in Russia exempt from nearly all taxes.
"Talking about new projects, the new tax regime makes it possible to effectively use these projects [on developing deposits], and new agreements are unlikely to be necessary," Kirill Androsov, deputy minister of economic development and trade, told the first Russia-Japan investment forum.
But he added that Russia would nevertheless continue to implement the agreements it has already concluded.
"Every signed PSA is a law," Androsov said. "So far, we have not terminated a single PSA, and I see no reason for doing that," he said.
He cited negotiations with France's Total oil company, which is developing the Kharyaga deposit in the north of European Russia under a PSA.
In April, Russia's natural resources ministry said that Total was not meeting its targets to increase crude production and introduce new equipment under the PSA, but the issue was later resolved and compromise found through the supervisory council of the PSA.
On Tuesday, presidential aide and Russia's Sherpa in the Group of Eight industrialized nations, Igor Shuvalov, suggested that PSA parties could withdraw from the agreements using legal procedures and adapt these deals to the new tax regulations.
"Such a procedure is envisioned by the majority of agreements approved by law," he said. "I think the current investment climate and tax system enable us to make such a proposal to partners in PSAs."
Russia's first and major PSA was the Sakhalin-II agreement signed in 1994 with the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company controlled by the Dutch-British Shell company.
Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom is currently selecting partners to cooperate on the unique Shtokman gas field project off Russia's Arctic shelf, which could be another possible PSA or not as the case may be.
