Norwegian oil and gas firm Equinor has increased its presence in the Russian onshore oil and gas assets, and has pulled out from offshore commitments in the Sea of Okhotsk on the Russian Far East.
In an agreement with the Russian oil company Rosneft, Equinor has acquired a 49% interest in the limited liability company LLC KrasGeoNaC (KGN) which holds twelve conventional onshore exploration and production licenses in Eastern Siberia.
One of these twelve licenses, the North Danilovsky development, started production in July this year. Production is expected to reach 40,000 barrels of oil per day by 2024, with subsequent plans to increase this to 70,000 barrels of oil per day.
The payment at the completion of the transaction is around USD 550 million, which includes a cash consideration of USD 325 million at the effective date of 1 January 2019, and customary adjustments.
Offshore 'redirected'
As part of the agreement, Equinor said it had "redirected" its remaining exploration commitments offshore in the Sea of Okhotsk and as such had no outstanding obligations in that area.
Offshore Engineer reached out to Equinor, seeking more info on the "redirected" offshore exploration commitments, and on the status of the Sea of Okhotsk acreage.
An Equinor spokesperson responded: "The remaining commitments offshore in the Sea of Okhotsk, which included three more wells, will now be redirected to this new onshore projects, and Equinor will have no further interests in the Sea of Okhotsk."