Re-tender talks send shivers through the investment community...
ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil may lose up to $60 million in investment following a Russian government decision to renege on a tender for the Sakhalin 3 oilfield that awarded exploration rights to the two groups 10 years ago.
The move represents a fresh challenge to foreign investor property rights, and the latest in a series of initiatives suggesting a growing preference by the authorities for Russian and state-owned companies in the development of the country's energy sector.
Viktor Khristenko, deputy prime minister, said yesterday that a new tender should be held for Sakhalin 3. This followed a decision that the field would not be one of the projects benefiting from the long-term tax-advantageous status of a production sharing agreement (PSA).
The decision, which the two US groups are vigorously appealing, comes at a time of aggressive lobbying by Rosneft, the state-controlled oil group, which has attempted to boost its influence and gain access to new Russian oil reserves.
ExxonMobil says it has spent $48 million on exploration and research since winning the tender on Sakhalin 3 in 1993. It holds two-thirds of two of the three blocks within the offshore zone in Russia's Far East, while Rosneft owns the remaining third of the equity. A third block has been equally split between ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, which invested $12 million, and Rosneft.
