The budget will receive less than 4 billion rubles a month due to a drop in production at Sakhalin-1

The State Duma Committee for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic has published its opinion on the draft federal budget for 2023-2025. In it, monthly losses for the budget from a decrease in production at the Sakhalin-1 fields by the operator Exxon Neftegas Limited are estimated at 4 billion rubles. For the Sakhalin budget, monthly losses will amount to 2 billion rubles.

The conclusion says that Exxon Neftegas Limited has reduced production at the fields of the joint project by 22 times since May 2022: from 220,000 bpd to 10,000 bpd. “As a result, the total losses of the budgets of the budget system of the Russian Federation are estimated at about 4 billion rubles. per month, including the loss of the budget of the Sakhalin region about 2 billion rubles. per month,” the document says (quote from Interfax).

In 2021, the budget of the Sakhalin Region received 52.6 billion rubles from the Sakhalin-1 project. This amounted to 35.1% of the volume of tax and non-tax revenues of the region’s budget. In this regard, the Committee considers it necessary to “pay special attention to the issue of ensuring a balanced budget of the Sakhalin Region.”

Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District predictedthat in 2023, against the background of a reduction in oil production, the budget in 2023 of the Sakhalin region will not receive 38 billion rubles.

On the eve of the State Duma submitted bill on the redistribution of federal and regional revenues from the Sakhalin-2 project (development of the Piltun-Astokhskoye and Lunskoye fields). The bill proposes to redirect 25% of profits to the region and 75% to the federal budget. Now 75% goes to the region and 25% to the federal budget.

30% of the Sakhalin-1 project belongs to Exxon Neftegas Ltd, another 30% to the Japanese Sodeco, 20% each belongs to Rosneft and the Indian ONGC. In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin banned foreign shareholders from “unfriendly” countries from selling strategic assets of the fuel and energy complex without a special decision. ExxonMobil has said it plans to sue if it is not allowed to pull out of the project.

The Sakhalin-1 project is the leader in reducing oil production among three joint projects with foreign companies. In second place in terms of reduction is Sakhalin-2. The third one is the Kharyaginskoye field in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Details – in the material “Kommersant” “Oil dried up”.

Anastasia Larina