KOGALYM, October 8 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's largest privately owned oil company Lukoil is hopeful that the Russian government will grant it permission to develop the Arctic shelf, the company's president Vagit Alekperov told reporters Wednesday.
"We expect that the federal government will make the decision on the admission of private oil companies to the Arctic shelf, because we are globally considered as a national company and we are subjected to the same sanctions as the rest of our colleagues," Alekperov said at the opening ceremony of the company's Imilorskoye oil field, at which Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich was present.
Under Russian law, subsoil plots located on the continental shelf of Russia have federal status. Only companies with more than 50 percent government ownership and with at least five years' experience of shelf development have the right to develop the shelf. At the moment, only Gazprom and Rosneft have the right.
