LUKOIL was underestimated in qualifying – Gazeta Kommersant No. 211 (7412) dated 11/15/2022

LUKOIL is trying to cancel in the arbitration court the decision of Uralnedr, because of which the company lost the opportunity to compete for the promising Nyatlongsky block in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, which borders on the Imilorskoye field that it owns. According to Uralnedr, LUKOIL did not have data on technical means and qualified specialists for the development of the site. As a result, the license for this site was issued to Surgutneftegaz. But LUKOIL has already been able to suspend the license through the court, and Rosnedra has checked the decision of its regional division.

LUKOIL-Western Siberia is challenging in the Arbitration Court of the Sverdlovsk Region the decision of Uralnedr (a division of Rosnedr) to reject the company’s application to participate in the auction for the Nyatlongsky block in KhMAO. The auction took place at the end of August. Then, even before the bidding, Uralnedra refused to participate in the bidding for this structure of LUKOIL and UDS Neft Alexey Chulkin, referring to the lack of confirmation of the availability of technical means and qualified specialists for the development of the site. Only Surgutneftegaz was admitted to the auction, which won the auction at a starting price of 52 million rubles. and received a license in September.

In October, LUKOIL applied to the court, which, during the meeting on October 7, took interim measures, suspending Uralnedr’s decision to reject LUKOIL’s application. At the next meeting on November 2, the court suspended the license of Surgutneftegaz. At the same time, court documents state that Rosnedra carried out an audit and confirmed the legitimacy of LUKOIL’s claims.

The Federal Agency for Subsoil Use told Kommersant that they had carried out an audit, as a result of which it was found that the protocols for considering applications dated August 24 did not reflect what the non-confirmation of the provision of technical means and qualified specialists for exploration and mining at the site is. At the same time, the department added that the possibility of re-holding the auction depends on the relevant court decision. LUKOIL did not answer “Kommersant”.

The next hearing is scheduled for December 6th.

The Nyatlongsky block borders on the Imilorsky block of LUKOIL-Western Siberia, which determines the company’s interest in its development through the development of the existing transport infrastructure, said Mikhail Grigoriev, head of the Gekon consulting center. In addition, the area is adjacent to the Yuzhno-Soimlor and Vostochno-Soimlor areas of Surgutneftegaz. The site contains the Nyatlongskoye field, discovered in 1997 with recoverable oil reserves of 0.31 million tons in category C1 and 0.36 million tons in category C2, and the Nyatlongskaya area prepared for exploration drilling with resources in category D1 + D2 of 7 .9 million tons of oil, adds Mr. Grigoriev.

The Imilorskoye field (reserves of 193 million tons) was acquired by LUKOIL in 2012 at an auction. This is the last major explored asset in Western Siberia, which the oil company took from the auction, at its peak it should produce about 3 million tons of oil per year. Since 2019, the oil company has received additional income tax relief for this field. The main resource base of LUKOIL in Russia is located in Western Siberia, and a significant part of it consists of highly watered fields and hard-to-recover reserves. The new licenses would allow the company to slow down the decline in production in the region.

Dmitry Kozlov