Other meeting participants include Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Presidential Plenipotentiary Representative in the Urals Federal District Igor Kholmanskikh, Minister of Natural Resources Sergei Donskoi, Minister of Energy Alexander Novak, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area Governor Dmitry Kobylkin, Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexei Miller, and various industry leaders.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will visit the Zapolyarnoye oil and gas field and tour the social infrastructure facilities at the Novozapolyarny rotation camp.
The field will be prepared to run at full capacity during Medvedev's visit.
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- Developing shelf resources is a priority for Russia’s energy security, for developing basic industries, and for ensuring socio-economic development in remote areas. The General Plan for Developing the Oil Industry in Russia up until 2020 and the Energy Strategy of Russia up until 2030 are based on the assumption that steady hydrocarbon production will only last until 2017. Future production plans are largely based on developing the continental shelf, primarily in the Arctic and the Pacific.
The Russian continental shelf is the world’s largest, with an area of over 6 million square kilometres and recoverable hydrocarbon resources estimated at 98.7 billion tonnes of oil and gas B.O.E. The environmental systems of these regions are particularly fragile. Thus, new technologies and innovative high-tech solutions will need to be used. Today, Russia lags behind other oil-producing countries in terms of the exploration and development of the continental shelf.
- Significant decisions have been adopted in recent years to promote the shelf's development. Specifically, mineral extraction tax exemptions have been provided for the area. Export duties on new projects may also be cancelled in the future, and differentiated mineral extraction tax rates and other tax benefits may be used.
These measures have attracted international energy corporations to Russian offshore projects, such as Exxon-Mobil. According to experts, up to $500 billion in investments could be attracted to shelf hydrocarbon production over the next 30 years, and up to $300 billion to related industries.
Investments in shelf operations are designed to cause a synergy effect for the economy, whereby localised production operations will create innovation-driven production facilities and modern jobs, and expand the range of industrial products.
- Today, the United Shipbuilding Corporation has contracts for 16 facilities designed for offshore development, such as drilling platforms, ice breakers, ice-class tankers, supply vessels, and rescue and research vessels.