OREANDA-NEWS. March 11, 2010. Rosneft has obtained a license on a new offshore exploration block (Astrakhanovskoye More – Nekrasovsky) located on the Sakhalin shelf. According to Vedomosti, the block contains potential (D1) oil reserves of 19.3MMt and gas reserves of 44bcm., reported the press-centre of OTKRITIE Financial Corporation.

The license was provided to Rosneft without any formal tender process, based on a direct government order. Reportedly, the Nekrasovsky block is located not far off the Sakhalin-1 project area, where Rosneft has a 20% working interest.

View: Given the relatively small volume of potential reserves, we believe the news is only marginally positive for Rosneft.

Recommendation: We maintain our BUY rating on Rosneft.