Russian TV Reports on Massive Investment in Largest Oil Project in History of World in Russian Arctic

For more details about the project, see our article from last week:  Russia Planning Biggest Oil Project in History of World - $155 Billion Investment, 15 New Towns, Airports, Ports, 100K Jobs

Transcript: 

Rosneft is the biggest taxpayer in Russia. For the last year, it will pay over 3.5 trillion rubles to Russia's budget. Igor Sechin, the company's CEO, stated that today at a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The meeting was dedicated to Rosneft's recent performance figures and future projects. The most important of them, Vostok Oil, will allow an essentially new oil and gas province to be formed on the Taimyr Peninsula.

Dmitry Petrov has the details on how it could change the life of the Russian North.

The biggest oil company in the country and one of the world's leaders in oil and gas production retained its position despite the general decline on the global market. They fully maintained production and processing volumes.

Vladimir Putin: “Mr. Sechin, would you like to report on last year's performance?”

Igor Sechin, Rosneft CEO: “In 2019, hydrocarbon production remained at the level of the previous year, 285.5 million tons of hydrocarbons. Average daily production amounted to 5.8 million barrels per day. This is a good result, one of the best in the global industry.”

Rosneft is the world's leader in costs per unit of oil production; they have the lowest costs. It's also the leader in the size of deposits. Last year, they even managed to replenish them by almost three times. The company actively develops oil and gas exploration. It has almost 150 exploration wells in different regions.

Rosneft remains a reliable counterparty for foreign partners. They have the contracts to supply oil to Poland and the Czech Republic through the Druzhba pipeline have been extended. Rosneft has significantly increased its presence in Germany's energy market. There are new projects ahead. Vostok Oil is the largest of them.

Igor Sechin, Rosneft CEO:

- In total, the project features the creation of 15 towns to house oilfield workers, two airports, a seaport, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) pipeline, and 100,000 jobs.

Vladimir Putin:

- About 10 trillion rubles, maybe more.

- Will it result in about 2% of GDP?

- It'll result in the growth of the country's GDP by 2% per year.

It will be a new world-level oil cluster. Vostok Oil will be comprised of the biggest oil fields in Siberia - the Vankor, Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye, and Lodochnoye oil fields, as well as several other fields in the north of Krasnoyarsk Krai - the Payakh Oil Field, where the Yenisei flows into the Kara Sea, and the West-Irkin Cluster. Five billion tons. Access to the Northern Sea Route is an additional competitive advantage. The powerful Russian ice-breaker fleet will ensure the navigation of tankers through the Arctic ice in any direction - whether to Europe or to Asia.