Russia opened 37 new oil and gas fields in 2006

Last year 37 oil and gas fields were opened in Russia, the Natural Resources Ministry said Wednesday.

“In 2006, about a thousand exploration licenses were issued, while prospecting for oil and gas as a rule takes three to four years,” the ministry’s spokesman said.

He said that initial exploration is sponsored through the federal budget, after which mineral developers obtain licenses for deeper prospecting at their own expense
The source said that in 2006, federal spending on mineral exploration increased 50% against 2005, to 16.4 billion rubles ($635.66 million), including 6.8 billion rubles ($263.57 million) on oil and gas exploration.

The operations revealed 63 promising sites, and data was received to specify the size of Russian offshore areas in the Sea of Okhotsk and near the Mendeleev Ridge in the Arctic Ocean.

Ria Novosti