Rusneftegaz

As a company, Rusneftegaz was originally founded in 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Rusneftegaz was then refounded in 2005 as a holding company for various oil and gas extraction licenses in northern Russia. After a corporate reorganization in 2015, the Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak stated that Rusneftegaz was interested in entering the energy market in Algeria,[8] and formed part of a consortium with Bashneft and Tatneft to develop fields in southern Algeria.[9][10] The company later also signed agreements to enter the petroleum production and power generation industries in both Iran and Iraq.[11] Later that year Rusneftegaz formed part of a delegation led by Novak to Tehran, and joined the Iranian-Russian Joint Economic Commission for Energy as a founding member, in addition to seven other Russian oil and gas companies including Rosneft and Gazprom. The commission established a joint Iranian-Russian bank to facilitate investment in energy infrastructure projects in Iran.[12][13][14] In 2016, Rusneftegaz also began operations in Jordan[15][16] and Egypt.[17][18]

In 2019, Rusneftegaz acquired the Gorstovy oil field in Tomsk Oblast with the intention of beginning opal mining operations, in addition to starting crude oil extraction on the site.[19][20] In September 2019, Rusneftegaz became the first Russian energy company to both open an international trading office in New York, and to begin listing their products on the Intercontinental Exchange.[21][22] Rusneftegaz has previously made contributions to geological research projects and is currently undertaking research into developing commercially-viable hydrogen production using catalytic reformation.[23][2]

In November 2014, Rusneftegaz was charged and convicted of the illegal refusal to pay the wages of staff at the company's office in Nizhnevartovsk during a prolonged labor dispute occurring between 2013 and 2014. Despite having sufficient opportunities to pay these salaries Viktor Goryachev, the regional director, withheld the funds after being directed to do so by the board of directors and instead spent the funds in other areas. Consequently, both Goryachev and Rusneftegaz were fined in 2016. In addition to several directors and managers including Goryachev, Rusneftegaz was later also convicted of embezzling 90 million Rubles, or approximately $2.75 million dollars (2013), of an unfulfilled contract.[24]

Rusneftegaz has also been prosecuted for a number of environmental offences, including in May 2015 when the company received a record fine for excessive gas flaring occurring between 2013 and 2014, with the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office commenting “For a long time, instead of using the petroleum gases efficiently the company was flaring it, causing a significant increase in pollutants and emissions in the air.”[25] In 2019, Rusneftegaz paid a total of $343k in fines and penalties for polluting the environment.[26] In July 2020, Rostekhnadzor suspended production operations at the Gorstovy oil field in Tomsk Oblast due to the potential for an “environmental catastrophe.” Inspectors observed 61 violations of laws and regulations during an unscheduled inspection including unsafe buildings, the use of expired equipment and damaged piping.

Prior to the suspension of production in Tomsk, Rusneftegaz was investigated by the Federal Security Service after an informant sent information documenting serious safety breaches that led to the death of a man at an oil loading point.[27]

• List of companies of Russia
• List of petroleum companies
• Petroleum industry in Russia

• Official website (in Russian and English)