Government boosted Gazprom reserves
The last thing Viktor Zubkov did before leaving the prime ministers post was to sign the decree on the transfer of 30 percent of the remaining federal gas reserves to Gazprom.
With the decree, Gazprom increases its reserves with 13 percent to a total of 29,1 trillion cubic meters of gas. The government generosity comes as Gazprom’s former board chairman Dmitrii Medvedev takes over as the country’s president.
The nine fields given by Mr. Zubkov without tenders to Gazprom are located in the Yamal Peninsula, in the Kara Sea and in the far eastern Okhotskoe Sea. The total reserves of the fields amount to 3,8 trillion cubic meters
According to newspaper Kommersant, it was the Ministry of Industry and Energy – a ministry which no longer exists – which lobbied the transfer of the gas reserves to Gazprom. In the new government of Vladimir Putin the ministry has been split into the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Energy.
Gazprom has not yet commented on the issue. However, the Ministry of Natural Resources confirms to Kommersant that the company might get the field licenses already next month.
It is unlikely that Gazprom will be able to start developing the fields before after 2015.
According to Gazprom itself, the company will before 2014 surpass Exxon Mobil as the world’s largest publicly traded company
