Agreement on South Stream signed in Sochi

PanARMENIAN.Net - The president of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, and the Head Administrator for ENI, Paolo Scaroni, in the presence of the Russian and Italian leaders, Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi, have signed a new agreement relative to the realization of South Stream. ENI and ENEL, furthermore, have signed an agreement for the transfer to Gazprom of 51% of SeverEnergia and the development of important sites in Siberia.

 

The agreement on South Stream provides for the increase in the capacity of transport from 31 to 47 billion cubic metres of gas per year in the pipeline. ENI and GAZPROM, furthermore, have worked together to follow through with the development of the South Stream project, given its strategic relevance in causing, through a new route, a decisive contribution to the security of the supply of gas across Europe. ENI and ENEL have also signed an agreement for the transfer to GAZPROM of 51% of SeverEnergia, a company that owns the entire capital of Arcticgaz, Urengoil and Neftegaztechnologia, once themselves owners of the license to explore and produce hydrocarbons with gas and oil reserves estimated at 5 bln barrels equivalent to oil. At the end of the negotiations, the indirect participation of ENI will be reduced from 60% to 29.4% and that of ENEL from 40% to 19.6%. On the basis of the agreement, SeverEnergia, who employs 500 people in its offices in Moscow and Noy Urengoy, will become the first Italo-Russian company to operate in the Yamal Nenets' (Western Siberia) deposit sites.



Currently the region produces about 905 of Russian gas. The various parties have agreed to produce the gas from Samburskoye before June 2011 and to reach at least 150000 BOE a day within 2 years from the beginning of production. It was further agreed to define within 90 days the plan to obtain all the authorization, including the extension of the licenses from Rosnedra, the Russian authority for the use of mineral and oil resources. The remuneration paid by GAZPROM for the purchase of 51% of SeverEnergia, the final definition of which is predicted for the end of June 2009, amounts to about 1.5 billion dollars and will be paid in two parts over 2009-10. The ENI' expected earnings are 900 million dollars, of which ENEL will be responsible for 600 million, AGI reported.