Italy's Eni teams up with Russians in Siberia

Italian energy company Eni announced a joint venture with Russian companies started initial production at the Samburskoye field in western Siberia. SeverEnergia, which Eni said was the first Italian-Russian venture in exploration and production, announced it started work in the field in the autonomous Yamal-Nenets region of western Siberia. "The development of the Samburskoye field represents an important step forward in Eni's growth and consolidation in the Russian Federation and is the first of four start-ups expected in the four-year plan that will lead to a production of about 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day net to Eni in 2019," the company said in a statement. Initial gas and liquids production is expected to reach 43,000 boe per day. Maximum production should reach 145,000 boe per day by 2015. Natural gas produced from the Samburskoye field will be sold to Russian energy company Gazprom. SeverEnergia, which has offices in Moscow, serves as an operator of oil and natural gas fields in the Yamal-Nenets region. Fields there produce about 90 percent of Russian natural gas.