You're reading: Lukoil sets up subsidiary for Bulgarian shelf tender

Moscow - Russian oil major Lukoil has set up a subsidiary structure called Lukoil Overseas Bulgaria B.V., registered in the Netherlands, for taking part in tenders for blocks off the Bulgarian coast.

Lukoil Overseas, Lukoil’s international upstream operator, is not offering comment on the creation of the new outfit.

Lukoil Overseas President and Lukoil Vice President Andrei Kuzyayev said not too long ago that the company sees great prospects for drilling on Romania’s Black Sea Shelf, and is also looking over the possibility of taking part in Bulgarian and Ukrainian tenders.

The Romanian shelf opening done by ExxonMobil (Romania estimates that deposit’s reserves could run to 42-48 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas) gives rise to hopes in neighboring Ukraine and Bulgaria for substantial gas prospects. Total of France recently secured the right to develop the block Black Sea block Khan Asparuh off the Bulgarian coast near to the section ExxonMobil worked. The Bulgarian government said that the section might contain not only gas strata, but oil strata as well.

Under a concession agreement, Lukoil and Vanco International are developing two blocks in Romania’s Black Sea waters – Est Rapsodia and Trident. Lukoil is also indirectly involved in a project in Ukrainian waters. Vanco Prykerchenska, Ltd. (British Virgin Islands), which belongs partly to Lukoil’s owners, holds the license to develop the Prykerchenska shelf section. The Russian company also had bids in for the Skifska gas field in Ukrainian deep shelf waters, but winner of that tender was a company group headed by ExxonMobil.