05-08-08 The British-Dutch oil company Shell has decided to change the conditions of its partnership with Sibur Energy. Until now, it has been operating on the same scheme as TNK-BP, that is, on equal terms. Now Shell will exchange its share in the Salym group of oil fields for a package of stock in Sibir Energy, which is the other partner in the project.
Preliminary estimates indicate that Shell may receive 30 % of Sibir Energy, become co-owner of the Moscow Oil Refinery and maintain the reserves of the fields on its balance proportional to its share.

It was said that Shell would transfer 50 % of the stock in Salym Petroleum Development, which is developing the Salym fields, to Sibir Energy in exchange for an unspecified share in the company itself. According to published sources, the deal may be worth £ 1 bn.
The Bennfield Fund owns 47 % of Sibir Energy. Bennfield in turn is owned by businessmen Shalva Chigirinsky and Igor Kesaev and the City of Moscow (18 %). Other shares are held by institutional and private investors, the largest of which are M&G Investment Management (6 %) and Black Rock Investment Management (5 %).

Besides Salym, the company is active at the Yuzhny fields and Koltogorsky block in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area and has ABC1 reserves of 70 mm tons and C2 reserves of 22.8 mm tons. It co-owns Moscow NPZ Holdings on equal terms with Gazprom Neft. The firm owns 90.2 % of the stock in the Moscow Oil Refinery, which has a capacity of 12 mm tpy.
Salym Petroleum Development has ABC1+C2 reserves of 74.1 mm tons. It produced 4.26 mm tons in 2007 and has capitalization of $ 4.63 bn. It is traded in London. If Shell receives a 30-% share in Sibir Energy, the share of Bennfield would be reduced to 33 % and the share of Moscow to 13 %.