Interview:Sergei Donskoy: We constantly remind our colleagues about the shelf: don't let your guard down
~~In 2014, Ministry of Natural Resources will continue to grant new offshore licenses to Rosneft and Gazprom, but it is preparing auctions for sites, located in transit zones, Minister of Netural Resources and Ecology Sergei Dosnkoy told in an interview to Interfax.
Q- Recently, Rosnedra published information on the increase in oil and gas reserves in Russia in 2013. The increase made up 635 million tons of oil and 930 billion cubic meters of gas. They significantly exceed the production, but if you look at the data for 2012, you will see that the growth rates are falling. Does this situation concern the Ministry?
A- Indeed, in 2013, the growth of the oil and gas condensate reserves made up 635 million tons, while the production was 523 million tons, and the increase in gas reserves made up 930 billion cubic meters, while the extraction was 630 billion cubic meters. But if we consider the longer period, we will see that a more significant increase in the oil and gas reserves in relation to the production level were in Russia than in 2011 - 2012 years. There were some periods when the reserves reproduction was almost equal to the production volume. These fluctuations are normal, they are primarily connected with the fact that the growth of reserves is a result of geological exploration, whose intensity varies year to year. Nevertheless, in the last 8 years, the reproduction of hydrocarbon reserves exceeded the production and this means that the total oil and gas reserves on the state balance is growing, despite the level of the production. Last year was no exception: 30 oil and gas fields were discovered. The largest oil field was discovered in the Saratov region - the Klintsovskoye field with reserves in the amount of 12 million tons of oil. This suggests that there are regions in Russia, which seem to be studied throughout, but retained the potential for new discoveries. Specialists say that there will be more and more discoveries in such regions in the future.
