Assessing the development prospects of a new sector in the region, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Viktor Ishayev said that Gazprom projects alone will need 3.3 trillion roubles worth of investment. The implementation of these projects will spur the development of the energy and transport infrastructure and social facilities. Meanwhile there are no plans to intensify oil and gas production, he said. Oil companies will focus on oil refining and processing natural resources.
“The level of oil production in the Far East will be approximately the same in the coming years, but the level of refining will grow by 20%. Thus, our tax payments will grow at least by 50% according to our estimates,” he said.
The development of the petrochemical industry will make it possible to diversify the fuel potential of the Far Eastern District. It will make it possible to increase the production of engine fuel. There are plans to develop the sector largely based on oil and gas fields in the Lena-Tunguska and Lena-Vilyui oil and gas provinces, and the Okhotsk Sea continental shelf. There are plans to begin with the Yakut fields. Yakutia has rather complicated and expensive gas, including helium. Helium demand is expected to triple or quadruple by 2030. Therefore relevant companies will carry out purposeful work on its processing and use. According to a preliminary estimate, the oil and gas projects in the Far East will create some 17,000 jobs at associated enterprises.
