Russia opened 37 new oil and gas fields in 2006

Moscow, Apr 19 (UNI) Russia opened 37 oil and gas fields, last year and issued about 1,000 exploration licences.

A spokesman for the Russian Natural Resources Ministry told RIA Novosti news agency that initial exploration is sponsored through the federal budget, after which mineral developers obtain licences for deeper prospecting at their own expense.

He said in 2006, federal spending on mineral exploration increased 50 per cent in comparison to 2005, to 635.66 million dollars, including 263.57 million dollars 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.

Last year, most oil and gas prospecting operations were conducted in East Siberia and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) with a view to increasing the raw materials base along the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline under construction.

UNI