Russian companies are likely to resume exploring the shelf when oil prices return to $100 per barrel, which is unlikely before 2025, says Georgy Vaschenko, director of operations on the Russian capital market at Freedom Finance. But Europe is not short of gas supplies; those of LNG are increasing, as is the volume of solar energy, he adds.
Gazprom will not be able to increase its gas reserves via Barents Sea shelf projects anytime soon. Rosnedra, the key government body responsible for the production of minerals in Russia, has permitted the country’s largest oil and gas companies Rosneft and Gazprom to move back the dates of their geological studies and the beginning of oil and gas production on the shelf. The decision affects 31 fields, RBC Daily reports.
Earlier, Gazprom itself had offered to postpone the exploration of the Barents Sea shelf. The company believes that in the current economic situation it is not commercially viable to conduct geological studies on the shelf, according to an article published in an in-house company magazine. Consequently, Gazprom asked the government to extend the dates for exploring the deposits. Originally, they were supposed to be explored by 2025, but now work will be postponed for a few years for each deposit.
source: rbth.com