Russ Oil-Gas

Dec. 13, 2007 - Kommersant - Korean Kogas and Russia’s Gazprom are in talks about strategic partnership in Sakhalin-3 project. The section eyed by Kogas is yet a portion of federal reserve, but the analysts don’t doubt Gazprom will get it in the end. Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) will probably become Gazprom’s partner in developing Kirinsky block of Sakhalin-3. Today’s concern of the companies is to evaluate Korea’s demand for the pipeline gas and fix dates for the first supplies. Representatives of Gazprom press service confirmed that the experts were negotiating about Sakhalin-3 in Moscow headquarters of the monopoly. “The Korean party has expressed the desire to take part in development of Kirinsky block of Sakhalin-3,” people in Gazprom said without specifying whether the monopoly agreed to the proposal. Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Ananenkov supervises progress in negotiations with Kogas. The Sakhalin-3 project provides for development of four blocks on the Sakhalin shelf – Vostochno Odoptinsky, Ayashsky, Veninsky and Yuzhno-Kirinsky. Rosneft and Chinese Sinopec hold the surveillance license for Veninsky block. The aggregate reserves of Sakhalin-3 are estimated at above 600 million tons of equivalent fuel. The reserves of Kirinsky block exceed 75 billion cu meters of gas. Although Russia’s Rosneft and LUKOIL as well as Indian ONGC are also eyeing Kirinsky block, the analysts don’t doubt it will go to Gazprom once it is crossed out of the list of federal reserve. So, the chance of Kogas to join the project appears rather solid.