NOVOBUREISKY, Russia, May 22 (RIA Novosti) – The East Siberian and Far East gas fields of Russian energy giant Rosneft will in the long-term produce up to 30 billion cubic meters and the company is ready to build its own pipelines in the region if not granted access to Gazprom’s future infrastructure, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said.
"We are developing a number of new oil fields in Eastern Siberia: Suzun, Tagul, Lodochnoye, Taas- Yuryakhskoye ... We expect that we will be able to transport and monetize the gas from these fields,” Sechin said.
“Its amount is decent enough – some 16 billion cubic meters per year, up to 20 billion cubic meters," he said, adding that in the future the amount will increase to 30 billion cubic meters of gas.
“Rosneft is even ready to build the infrastructure for the gas, which we will maybe acquire. This region [Eastern Siberia] has no unified gas supply system, but there are gas resources,” Sechin noted.
Sechin said Rosneft could tap into Gazprom’s Power of Siberia gas pipeline if the company were allowed access, but that there were many other options available as well.
"We will choose the most effective option. If this option does not involve a significant investment, we will go for it. If the gas monetization will require investment in infrastructure with no other choice available, then we have no other variant. Still, it would have been the most effective option," the Rosneft CEO said.
On Wednesday, Russia and China signed a 30-year $400 billion gas supply contract. The supply volume will total 38 billion cubic meters per year.
Speaking about the deal, Sechin said that the decision is of a strategic nature and is primarily aimed at the development of the Far East and Eastern Siberia, which requires significant investment. Gazprom will no doubt secure the efficiency of exports, and the country will get new oil fields, jobs, and infrastructure, he said.
