A view of an oil derrick at the Rosneft company-owned Suzunskoye oil field, north from the Russian Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. (Photo : Reuters)
The Russian government has opened up Vankor, a vast new oil field in remote eastern Siberia owned by state firm Rosneft, to Chinese investors following the call made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in September last year to seek new markets in Asia for Russian energy exports in a bid to replace traditional customers in Europe.
According to the Beijing Times, Rosneft has confirmed that it has reached a draft agreement to sell a 10-percent stake in Vankor to China.
Prospective investors from China and India have been flown to visit the field in Siberia since Putin's announcement, the report added.
Alexei Zyryanov, deputy head of an oil and gas production unit, has expressed excitement and welcomed the Chinese investors as some workers have reportedly taken up Mandarin.
"No problem. We will work with the Chinese workers if need be," Zyryanov was quoted as saying.
According to the report, 440,000 barrels per day of crude from Vankor are shipped east, via the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, which includes a spur going to China's northeast.
The report said that the Chinese investment in the project was the farthest Moscow has ever undertaken since it proposed its hydrocarbon industry to Beijing.
The report added that Moscow's offer of ownership stake in such a big strategic onshore deposit to the Chinese is rare, despite the great interest shown by major Western investors.
The report said that China considered the offer as significant and remarkable.
According to reports, Kremlin turned to Asia as it sought new energy markets after Western governments imposed sanctions over the Ukraine crisis last year.
The report said that China has surpassed Germany as the biggest buyer of Russia's crude oil last year, after China secured the Rosneft deals, which boosted supplies via the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline and another crossing Kazakhstan.
