MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government has granted Gazprom the rights to drilling operations in a new area in the Barents Sea; Rosneft, in its turn, received permission to extract minerals at a new site in the Sea of Okhotsk, a decree published on the Russian Government’s website announced Monday.
By this decree, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev extended the list of subsoil assets of federal importance that are available for use without holding any auctions. The list includes the Barents Sea subsoil asset and the Deryuginsky subsoil area located in the Sea of Okhotsk.
Russia's largest oil company, Rosneft, has received the right to exploit the Northwest region of 8,961 square kilometers, and Gazprom was granted the rights for the Deryuginsky subsoil asset of 2,507 square kilometers.
To exploit the respective subsoil assets Gazprom will have to pay 920,2 million rubles (20 million US dollars) and Rosneft, 336,6 million rubles (9 million US dollars).
