Total to Transfer 20% Interest and Operatorship of Kharyaga PSA

Total has agreed to transfer a 20 percent interest, and operatorship, of the Kharyaga Production Sharing Agreement to Zarubezhneft.

Following the completion of the transaction, Total will retain a 20 percent interest in Kharyaga alongside Zarubezhneft, which will hold a 40 percent operated interest, Statoil, which will hold a 30 percent interest, and Nenets Oil Company, which will hold the remaining 10 percent interest. The transaction is subject to the approval of the Russian authorities.

Arnaud Breuillac, Total’s president of exploration and production, commented in a company statement:

“Russia remains a key country for the group. Total has ambitious plans for the future through its established partnership with Novatek and the ongoing Yamal LNG project.

“This transfer represents a new stage in the life of Kharyaga. A more substantial role for Zarubezhneft alongside our continued involvement will allow us to extract maximum value from Kharyaga for many years to come.”

Sergey Kudryashov, general director of AO Zarubezhneft said in a company statement:

“The deal is of interest to Zarubezhneft given our existing participation in Kharyaga, a field we know very well. Our strategy focuses on the development of fields with difficult reservoirs. Since 2008, our company has been developing fields of similar geological structure under the rusvietpetro joint venture in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, located some 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Kharyaga field. We plan to increase cost efficiency at Kharyaga by leveraging this experience and extracting synergies, thereby creating additional value for the project stakeholders and the Russian Federation. This is also a step towards closer cooperation in other projects with our longstanding partner Total.”