Putin Prioritizes Oil Platforms, Tankers

Russian President Vladimir Putin prioritized the construction of oil platforms and tankers in the shipbuilding sector. Projects are being implemented for the construction of platforms for the development of oil and gas fields on the continental shelf, and a definite class of tankers, Putin said, opening a meeting devoted to shipbuilding industry issues.

Russia, which holds the world's largest natural gas reserves and is among the top 10 countries in terms of oil reserves, is implementing huge oil and gas field projects, particularly the Shtokman deposit off the Arctic shelf, and Sakhalin I and Sakhalin II off the Pacific shelf, that have been the focus of the world's leading investors. Last month, energy giant Gazprom announced it will develop the Shtokman deposit on its own, a move that stunned Norway's Statoil and Norsk Hydro, France's Total, and U.S. giants Chevron and ConocoPhillips, all companies previously on a shortlist of contenders for the project. Russia also seems eager to limit foreign participation in the development of the Russian energy sector and to revise production-sharing agreements. Devised in the 1990s, when oil prices were much lower, PSAs offered investors major tax benefits, which provided a kind of risk bonus for investing in Russia. Source: RIA Nivosti