OREANDA-NEWS. June 24, 2008. An extended session on the issues of developing small and medium-sized oil companies opened the visiting meeting of the State Duma Federation Council Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Ecology   at the head office of OAO TATNEFT in Almetyevsk (Republic of Tatarstan) on June 19.

It is not accidental that the experience of Tatarstan oilmen on the development of oil production and effective cooperation has earned the special attention of parliamentarians. This experience is also interesting by the fact that the Tatneft Company and the small-sized oil producing companies operating in the Republic have been demonstrating a steady growth of crude oil production for 15 years running already. A determining role in providing for the efficient operation of the small oil production business has been mainly accounted for by the support rendered on the part of the Management of the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as by associating all small and medium-sized companies under the auspices of ZAO (JSC) Nefteconsortsium for finding optimal solutions to common problems and for structural interaction with Tatneft: access to the infrastructure companies, sharing of best practices, etc.

Later in the day the meeting participants visited Almetyevski State Oil Institute, which with support of Tatneft became one of the best universities in the field in Russia, as well as a number of other divisions of the Company. They visited the site for repair of electrical centrifugal submersible pumping units, as well as the production site of metal/plastic pipes and they also familiarized with operation of one of the wells equipped with a power saving chain drive for downhole sucker rod pumping unit.

Today, the participants of the meeting visited the pilot plot of Ashalchinskoe natural bitumen field and a number of oil field production facilities of OAO TATNEFT and of the small and medium-sized oil production companies in Nurlat region.

After this a plenary session of the visiting meeting was held in Nurlat, which was attended by D.F. Mezentsev , Vice-Chairman of the Federation Council, R.N. Minnikhanov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, V.P. Orlov and N.V. Komarova, Chairmen of the  State Duma Federation Council of the relevant committees, Sh.F. Takhautdinov, General Director of OAO TATNEFT, E.V. Korzun, General Director of the Association of Small and Medium-sized oil and gas organizations (AssoNeft), F.H. Valiev, General Director of ZAO "Nefteconsortsium", as well as by the managers of the Russian and the Republican small and medium-sized companies and representatives of scientific and public organizations. The meeting participants discussed ways of interaction between public authorities and the oil business as well as topical issues of taxation, and small and medium-sized companies' contribution to the solution of common problems of the oil industry.

The guests will meet President of Tatarstan M.Sh. Shaymiev and will participate in the national celebration "Sabantuy" on June 21 in Kazan.

For reference:
OAO TATNEFT produced 25 million 740.6 thousand tons of crude oil. The company produced 10 million 890.7 thousand tons of crude oil during a five month period in 2008 accounting for  0.8% increase versus the same period in 2007.

The small and medium-sized companies of Tatarstan produced 6.1 million tons of crude oil in 2007 and their crude oil production amounted to about 1.6 million tons in the first quarter of 2008.