ITAR-TASS: Russia's oil, gas reserves to suffice for deliveries to Asia-Pacific and Europe

Russia has traditional commercially viable reserves of hydrocarbon fuel for at least several decades ahead. Eastern Siberia and the continental shelf are a development priority, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview published on Monday. Dvorkovich is the Chairman of the organizing committee of the 21st World Petroleum Congress (WPC) which opens in Moscow later in the day.

"Signing a really historic gas contract with China coincided with a mounting tension (in relations) with some of our partners. However, this does not mean at all that we have come to prefer the Asian market to the European market. As far as our oil and gas reserves are concerned, they will suffice for delivery to both Asia-Pacific and our European partners, and they are interested in this. A patent example of that is the following: the chiefs of major European energy corporations are among the participants in the WPC in Moscow," Dvorkovich stated.

Speaking of prospects for the production of shale oil in Russia, Dvorkovich said, "This is, first of all, a multi-aspect scientific problem (technology, ecology, reducing production costs) and the possibility of implementing pioneering projects."
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