Bashneft was recognized as winner of the auction held today by the Department of Subsoil Use of the Nenets Autonomous District (NAOnedra) and was granted the rights to geological exploration, finding, surveying, and production of hydrocarbons of the Yangareiskiy and Sabriyaginskiy subsoil blocks. The company will make a one-time payment of 2,711.5 million rubles for the Yangareiskiy subsoil block and of 1,801.8 million rubles for the Sabriyaginskiy subsoil block.

“The fact that we won the auction proves that our investments in the north of the Timan-Pechora province are a part of a long-term strategy that is not confined to the development of the R.Trebs and A.Titov oilfields, although is a large-scale project,” stated Alexander Korsik, President of JSOC Bashneft. “We are planning to increase the Company’s resource base in the region through geological exploration of the purchased oilfields, which our geologists expect to contain considerable oil resources”.

Note:The Yangareyskiy and Sabriyaginskiy subsoil blocks are situated in the north-eastern part of the Nenets Autonomous District. They are located about 200 km to the east of the R.Trebs and A.Titov oilfields currently developed by Bashneft and 20-80 km to the north-west of the Savatinskiy and Vostochno-Padimeyskiy subsoil blocks that were acquired by Bashneft at an auction in October 2011.

Geologically, the Yangareyskiy and Sabriyaginskiy blocks belong to the Korotaikhinskiy prospective oil and gas district of the Severo-Preduralskaya region in the Timan-Pechora province. Tectonically, the blocks are situated in the Korotaikhinskaya depression; in the north the Yangareyskiy block also partly covers the Paykhoyskoye ridge of the Preduralskiy fore deep.

Explorative seismic density amounts to 0.24 km/sq km at the Sabriyaginskiy block and 0.33 km/sq km at the Yangareyskiy block. No deep drilling has been conducted within the blocks. According to the estimates of the organizers of the auction, forecasted recoverable resources of oil total 26.2 million tons at the Yangareyskiy block and 2.0 million tons at the Sabriyaginskiy block.