United States tightened sanctions against “Gazprom” – RBC

The US imposed a ban on the supply of technological equipment for the South Kirinskoye gas field in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, which is developed by “Gazprom”. Information about the introduction of a new object in the list of companies and individuals (Entity List), in respect of which a special tough regime of export controls United States, was published today in the Federal Register of the United States – the Official Gazette.

For the first time in the Entity List, which in charge of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the Ministry of Commerce, made a particular object, rather than a legal or natural person – namely a specific field, said RBC lawyer from Washington Jacobson Burton PLC Doug Jacobson. It seems that a new approach to “smart” sanctions against Russia, he says.

According to the new regulation the controller will proceed from “presumption of denial” when considering applications for licenses for exports to South Kirinskoye . Based on the regulations for the deposit will be virtually impossible to deliver any product or software of US origin that is subject to US export controls (Export Administration Regulation).

The rules also prohibit the re-export and transfer of such equipment in Russia of American origin for Sakhalin field of “Gazprom”. In other words, observe the restrictions required any company, regardless of nationality or country of dispatch, if the product is of American origin.

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The US imposed restrictions on the supply of the first technological equipment for the Russian oil and gas industry a year ago. Then the restrictions applied only to equipment from the list, which had about 30 items, including drilling platforms, components for horizontal drilling, subsea equipment, marine equipment to operate in the Arctic, software for hydraulic fracturing (frac).

In September 2014 sanctions under the US Department of Commerce have been expanded: it was forbidden to issue licenses for all products regulated by the BIS, in case they are intended for shale, deep-water Arctic projects and five Russian companies – “Gazprom” “Gazprom oil “LUKOIL,” Surgutneftegaz “and” Rosneft ».

South Kirinskoye field in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk could already fall under the first restrictions – under the criterion of deepwater, which US authorities have identified as oil at a depth of 500 feet (about 152 meters). According to the information on the website of “Gazprom”, the sea depth in the field ranges from 110 to 320 meters.

At the end of October last year, general director of OOO “Gazprom dobycha shelf Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk” Anatoly Sorokin suggested that sanctions could affect the field but surely it was not. “It is at the junction of sanctions” – then said Sorokin on the sidelines of the National Oil and Gas Forum (quoted by RIA Novosti news agency).

Today’s ruling DOC elaborated its position on South Kirinskoye. The document states that the transfer of equipment for the development of this field will go against the limitation of deep mining. The regulator does not stop and the fact that the field is a gas condensate (the US is not directly imposed sanctions against gas projects in Russia). The notice states that the South Kirinskoye field “contains significant oil reserves».

The gas reserves of the South Kirinskoye field’s C1 + C2 reserves make up 636.6 billion cubic meters. m, according to the website of “Gazprom”. On the oil reserves there does not say anything, but “Vedomosti” in February this year wrote citing a person close to one of the contractors of “Gazprom”, which were found at the field oil reserves at 464 million tons (C1 + C2).

The introduction of these sanctions complicates the work of the South Kirinskoye field because of its development of subsea production systems is unique and, of course, based on imported technology, says analyst Valery Nesterov Sberbank CIB. Americans found a vulnerable spot – a project that is important for the realization of the strategy of “Gazprom” and is just in the area where the Russian company is inconvenient rival for the US LNG – in the Asia-Pacific region. Guided by the interests of the current situation and policies, Americans actually arrange their strategic objectives, the expert believes.

The general director of LLC “Gazprom mining Shelf Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk” Sorokin said in October that the field is planned to start by 2019, and its reserves previously estimated at 560-600 billion cubic meters of gas. It is estimated that the maximum production in 2020 could reach 16 billion cubic meters of gas.

The representative of “Gazprom” does not comment on sanctions against South Kirinskoye.