Chornomornaftogaz

Chernomornaftogaz
Native name
 Черноморнефтегаз
State unitary enterprise
Industry Oil and gas
Founded 1979
Headquarters Simferopol, Republic of Crimea
Key people
 Sergey Komissarov (CEO (de facto))
Andrey Ilyin (Adviser to CEO)
Products Natural gas
Crude oil
Natural-gas condensate
Production output
 1.651 billion cubic metres (58.3×109 cu ft) of natural gas (2013)[1]
Services Pipeline transportation
Natural gas distribution
Parent Republic of Crimea
Website gas.crimea.ru

Chornomornaftogaz (also: Chernomornaftogaz, Ukrainian: Чорноморнафтогаз, Russian: Черноморнефтегаз, lit. "Black Sea oil and gas") is an oil and gas company located in Simferopol, Crimea. It is legally a subsidiary of Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz.[2] However, after the 2014 Crimean crisis it was seized by the region's parliament in the run-up to its annexation by Russia.[3]

History

The company was established on 20 October 1979 to develop oil and gas resources in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.[4]

In February 2014, Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company Naftogaz sued Chornomornaftogaz for delayed debt payments of 11.614 billion UAH (almost €1 billion) in the Economic Court of the Crimean Autonomous Republic.[5]

In March 2014, Crimean authorities announced that they would nationalize the company.[6] Crimean deputy prime minister Rustam Temirgaliev said that Russia's Gazprom would be its new owner.[7] A group of Gazprom representatives, including its head of business development, has been working at the Chornomornaftogaz head office since mid-March 2014.[2] On 1 April 2014, Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak said that Gazprom would finance an undersea gas pipeline to Crimea.[8]

On 11 April 2014 the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it had added Chornomornaftagaz to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List as part of the third round of U.S. sanctions.[9] Reuters quoted an anonymous U.S. official who explained that the United States wanted to make it impossible for Gazprom to "have dealings with Chornomornaftogaz", and if that were to happen, Gazprom itself could face sanctions.[8] The European Union followed suit on 13 May 2014, the first time its sanctions list has included a company.[10][11]

Operations

Chornomornaftogaz is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in natural gas explorations and production, transport, storage, and distribution. It operates the Hlibovske underground gas storage.[6] Its offshore operations are concentrated primarily in the northwestern part of the Black Sea shelf.[3]

The company has licenses for 17 fields, including 11 gas fields, four oil fields and two gas condensate fields.[12] It licenses for offshore fields include Odeske, Shtormove, Prykerchenske, Holitsynske, Arkhangelske, Bezimenne, Subbotinske, and Strilkove. In addition it owns licenses for Jankoy and Semenwckoye onshore fields. Its total reserves of all fields are estimated at 58.6 billion cubic metres (2.07×1012 cu ft) of natural gas, 1.231 million tons of natural-gas condensate, and 2.53 million tons of crude oil.[13] In 2013, Chornomornaftogaz produced 1.651 billion cubic metres (58.3×109 cu ft) of natural gas.[1] In 2012, it produced 1.174 billion cubic metres (41.5×109 cu ft) of natural gas, 62,800 tonnes of natural-gas condensate, and 8,900 tonnes of crude oil.[14] The research group IHS reported that in 2013 Chornomorneftegaz accounted for 7.9% of Ukraine's gas production and 2.4% of its oil production.[3]

The company owns four jack-up rigs (Syvash, Tavrida, Petro Hodovanets, and Nezalezhnist) and eight fixed drilling platforms.[4][15][16][17] Purchase of Petro Hodovanets (ex-West Juno) and Nezalezhnist was criticized due to corruption and money laundering allegations and higher purchase price that the market price.[18][19] These rigs were nicknamed the "Boyko towers" after the former energy minister Yuriy Boyko.[1][20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Pogorilov, Stanislav (2014-03-19). След Газпрома: что будет с Черноморнефтегазом [Gazprom's trail: what will happen to Chornomornaftogaz] (in Russian). LIGABiznesInform. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Crimea to hand over Chornomornaftogaz to Russia's Gazprom - deputy CEO". Interfax-Ukraine. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Crooks, Ed (11 April 2014). "US imposes sanctions on Crimea gas group". Financial Times. (subscription required). Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Chornomornaftogaz". Enterprise Catalogue Ukraine Today. Retrieved 2014-03-15.
  5. ↑ «Нафтогаз» требует, чтобы «Черноморнефтегаз» вернул 11,6 млрд гривень [Naftogaz requires that Chornomornaftogaz returned 11.6 billion UAH] (in Russian). UNIAN. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Crimean authorities not ruling out future privatization of Chornomornaftogaz". Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  7. ↑ "Нафтогаз" покинув свою "дочку" — "Чорноморнафтогаз" — напризволяще ["Naftogaz" left his "daughter" — "Chornomornaftogas" — to fend for themselves]. Espreso TV (in Ukrainian). 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Mohammed, Arshad (11 April 2014). "U.S. sanctions Crimea gas company, in move aimed at Gazprom". Reuters.
  9. ↑ "Treasury Designates Seven Individuals And One Entity Contributing To The Situation In Ukraine" (Press release). United States Department of the Treasury. 2014-04-11. Retrieved 2014-04-12.
  10. ↑ Norman, Laurence (12 May 2014). "EU Modestly Expands Sanctions on Russia". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  11. ↑ "EU punishes Russia, adds more names to sanctions list". EurActiv. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  12. ↑ "Chornomornaftogaz ups gas production by 12.8% in H1, 2012". Ukrinform. 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  13. ↑ "Chornomornaftogaz Triples Production at Offshore Strilkove Gas Field". Ukrinform. 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  14. ↑ Чем Россия расплатится за «Черноморнефтегаз» [What Russia will pay for Chornomornaftogaz] (in Russian). Forbes Ukraine. 2014-03-19. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  15. ↑ "Black Sea oil and gas" (PDF). Energy Economis (378). Platts. April 2013. pp. 24–26. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  16. ↑ "Chornomornaftogaz decides against leasing right to drill outside Ukraine". Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  17. ↑ "Chornomornaftogaz additionally constructs facilities at Shtormove gas field in the Black Sea". Ukrainian Energy. Ukrinform. 2012-08-21. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  18. ↑ "Report says Ukraine overpaid for oil rig". Ukrainian Journal. 2012-05-25. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  19. ↑ Stack, Graham (2013-09-02). "More questions as new details emerge over Naftogaz rig purchase". Business New Europe. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
  20. ↑ Semerak, Ostap (2012-12-26). "How to return $80 million to Ukraine for the Boyko towers". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 2014-03-22.