02-05-02 A spokeswoman for TotalFinaElf confirmed that the French giant was interested in working with Anglo-Siberian Oil Co (ASOC) to develop Vankorskoye, an oil and gas field in the Krasnoyarsk region.
TotalFinaElf is negotiating with ASOC on the Vankorskoye project, the spokeswoman told.

ASOC had said that it was prepared to let TotalFinaElf acquire 52 % of its share in Vankorskoye and assume the role of project operator. It also said it might let the French company take 60 % of its stake in Severo-Vankorskoye, an adjacent field in the Taimyr autonomous district, and act as the operator of that concession. (At present, ASOC holds a 59 % interest in Vankorskoye and a 50 % interest in Severo-Vankorskoye and is serving as operator of both projects.)
TotalFinaElf is already working elsewhere in Russia; it holds a 50 % interest in the Kharyaga field, located in the Imam-Pechora province, and has signed a deal with Russia's Yukos on the establishment of a 50-50 joint venture to explore and develop Shatsky, an offshore area in the Black Sea.

The license for Vankorskoye, which is believed to hold 906 mm barrels of crude oil and 2.6 tcf of natural gas in recoverable reserves is held by the Yeniseineft joint venture. Equity in the joint venture is split 59 % to ASOC; 27 % to the Russian company Yeniseineftegaz; 10 % to Yeniseigeofizika, another Russian company; and 4 % to the state property fund of the Turukhansk district, an arm of the local government.
Shell purchased an option to acquire a 44 % stake in the project several years ago, but in November of 2000 it opted out of the project, saying it would rather participate in projects not requiring so much time for development. The field is eligible for development under a production-sharing agreement (PSA), and ASOC believes that the project may require investments of $ 2.5 bn.

The license for Severo-Vankorskoye was originally held by Taimyrneft, a joint venture split 50-50 between ASOC and Taimyr Petroleum. Shareholders in ASOC voted at an extraordinary general meeting last August to approve plans for the acquisition of Taimyr Petroleum.