Eni Begins Yamal-Nenets Production

Italy's Eni has welcomed its first ever production in Russia, with the beginning of production operations on the Yamal-Nenets district in Western Siberia.

Production on the Samburskoye field, which began today, is operated by SeverEnergia, a company in which Eni holds a majority 30 per cent stake. Novatek and Gazpromneft each hold a 25.5 per cent stake in SeverEnergia while Enel holds a 19 per cent stake.

Initial production at the field is expected to amount to 43,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) initially, rising to 145,000 boepd by 2015. Initially, 14,000 boepd will go to Eni leaping to 43,000 boepd in 2015.

Eni says this is a strong start for its production interests in Russia which is set to continue growing over a four-year plan for four fields in the country. The company estimates that as a result of operations on these four fields, its assets from Russia will amount to approximately 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2019.

The production on the Samburskoye field opened today with a ceremony attended by representatives from each of SeverEnergia's shareholders, including Chairman of Eni Giuseppe Recchi, CEO of Eni Paolo Scaroni, COO of SeverEnergia Vladimir Svaykin, CEO of Novatek Leonid Mikhelson, COO of Gazprom Neft Alexandr Dyukov and Governor of the Yamal-Nentes region Dmitry Kobylkin. The ceremony was also attended  by representatives from the federal and local authorities.