Sechin asked Putin to allow Rosneft to supply gas to Europe

The head of Rosneft and executive secretary of the presidential commission for the fuel and energy complex Igor Sechin asked Vladimir Putin to allow the company to export its gas to Europe. With his letter to the head of state got acquainted Kommersant.

In order not to violate Gazprom’s monopoly, Sechin is ready to work with the company under an agency agreement. Namely, Rosneft wants to sign an agreement, according to which Gazprom will act as an agent in the export of gas to the oil company. Rosneft is ready to supply the EU with about 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

Sechin’s key argument in favor of a positive decision is an increase in the federal budget. The letter to Putin indicates that at current gas prices in Europe, the MET (mineral extraction tax) rate may be about 5 thousand rubles per thousand cubic meters, which is more than 3.5 times higher than the rate of Gazprom.

Rosneft, in contrast to the gas monopoly, as noted by Sechin, is ready to pay an increased severance tax to the budget, and also tie it not to the contractual, but to the market price of gas in Europe. The conditions set by the head of the oil company will require amendments to the Tax Code, but will bring the budget an additional 37 billion rubles.

Sechin also indicated that granting Rosneft access to the pipeline “would help lift restrictions” by Brussels. August 25 Gazprom’s subsidiary Nord Stream 2 lost in court to the German authorities. The company tried to achieve the exclusion of Nord Stream 2 from the EU Gas Directive, which prohibits the owner of the gas pipeline from filling it 100%. Because of this, out of 55 billion cubic meters per year, Gazprom’s pipeline will be able to use only 27.5 billion.

Rosneft, on the other hand, can help fill Nord Stream 2 by 100%, as well as 12.8 billion cubic meters per year of the Opal gas pipeline (a continuation of Nord Stream 1), which, according to the same EU restrictions, are not used, Sechin is sure. According to the newspaper, Putin has already instructed Sechin’s proposals to be considered by the relevant Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. Analysts note that Rosneft has no free gas today. Production in 2020 fell by 6.2%, to 62.8 billion cubic meters, and in the first half of 2021 – by another 2.3%, to 31 billion cubic meters.