Dec
22

Rosneft to Pay $52 Million for Sakhalin Deposit, Interfax Says (Bloomberg)

From: Bloomberg

OAO Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, will pay 1.61 billion rubles ($52 million) for the license to an area off the coast of Russia’s far eastern Sakhalin Island, Interfax said, citing a document from Russia’s subsoil agency.

The area contains the northern tip of the Chayvo field, which Rosneft is helping develop as part of the Sakhalin-1 project led by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the news service said.

Dec
17

ONGC in Talks with Rosneft, Novatek for Russia Energy Assets (Wall Street Journal)

From: WSJ

 

By RAKESH SHARMA

NEW DELHI – Indian state-run explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp.’s overseas investment unit is in talks with Russian companies OAO Rosneft and OAO Novatek to seek a greater share in energy assets there, India’s foreign secretary said Wednesday.

“OVL [ONGC Videsh Ltd.] is keen to get involved in the development of Sakhalin-3 and they [OVL] are in discussions with Rosneft for this,” Ranjan Mathai said at a news conference. “OVL is also in talks with Novatek to access gas deposits in the Yamal peninsula in the north eastern Siberian region.”

Dec
15

Shell Sees Window to Expand Sakhalin LNG in Asia Market (Bloomberg Businessweek)

From: Bloomberg Business Week

By Stephen Bierman

(Updates with Brekelmans quote in second paragraph.)

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc. said its Sakhalin venture with OAO Gazprom, Russia’s natural gas export monopoly needs to expand fast to sell liquefied natural gas to Asia at maximum profit.

There’s a window of opportunity in the Asia Pacific from 2015 to 2020, Harry Brekelmans, the head of the energy company’s Russian unit, told reporters today in Moscow. The market will tighten after that with additional LNG volumes coming from Australia, Shell spokesman Maxim Shoob said today.

Dec
12

The Critical Role of Civil Servants

Historically, federal civil servants played a critical role in developing and implementing federal policy. The attached article in the Administrative Law Review,published by the American Bar Association in conjunction  with the Washington College of Law of the American University, sets forth in Section D on page 54  the critical role career federal employees had in the establishment of centralized regulatory review in the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Administrative Law Review-Tozzi

Dec
07

OVL keen on buying stake in Russia’s Sakhalin block (Economic Times)

From: Economic Times

NEW DELHI: ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), today once again expressed interest in taking at least 20 per cent stake in the Sakhalin-3 oil and gas fields and importing liquefied natural gas from Russia.

OVL has been since 2006 raising the issue of stake in the Far East Russian oil and gas fields but Moscow is yet to respond favourably.

OVL is keen on replicating its 20 per cent stake in Exxon Mobil-operated Sakhalin-1 oil and gas fields in the upcoming Sakhalin-3 project, official sources said.

Dec
06

Russian oil projects in the Arctic: legal divisions are needed (The Voice of Russia)

From: The Voice of Russia

The Director of the Shelf Laboratory of the Russian State Oil and Gas University, Doctor of Engineering, Professor VassilyBogoyavlensky spoke with the Voice of Russia and elaborated on the areas that Russia should focus on while developing the Arctic shelf.

According to Professor Bogoyavlensky comprehensive international laws governing the Arctic are non-existent as of today but documents to that end are in fact being developed. In Russia, the Arctic is governed by laws implemented nationally and any special programs that Russia has outlined for the period up to the year 2020 and beyond. The Arctic is also regulated by the national legislation of all other Arctic states.

Dec
04

Rosneft to Pay $52 Million for Sakhalin Deposit, Interfax Says (Bloomberg)

From: Bloomberg

By Stephen Bierman

OAO Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil producer, will pay 1.61 billion rubles ($52 million) for the license to an area off the coast of Russia’s far eastern Sakhalin Island, Interfax said, citing a document from Russia’s subsoil agency.

The area contains the northern tip of the Chayvo field, which Rosneft is helping develop as part of the Sakhalin-1 project led by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), the news service said.