Russia wants national reserves fund for shelf resources
By the end of the year, a national fund for mineral resources might be established in Russia. The fund could possibly deprive oil and gas majors Gazprom and Rosneft of their desired fields in the Arctic.
The fund is likely to include all hydrocarbon reserves on the Russian shelf, B-port.com reports. The federal Ministry of Natural Resources has presented a bill on the issue. The legislative initiative is reported to have been thoroughly discussed in several ministries before it was handed over to government. Possibly, the reserve fund could be a blow to the companies Gazprom and Rosneft, both of which fight for the control of the vast hydrocarbons of the country’s Arctic shelf. Of Russia’s remaining big oil and gas fields, the overwhelming majority is located offshore. According to B-port.com, only five of 163 strategic reserve oil fields with resources bigger than 70 million tons are located on land. The remaining 158 field are located on the shelf. The establishment of the fund will be followed by stricter government control over license rights and the development of the resources.
