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More oil in Kara Sea field - energy minister

Minister Aleksandr Novak estimates the resources of the Pobeda field to 500 million tons, far more than the estimates previously presented by Rosneft President Igor Sechin.

According to Russian Minister of Energy Aleksandr Novak, there is four times more oil than previously annonced in the University-1 field.

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In a meeting with President Putin this week, Novak said that there is about 500 million tons of oil in the University-1 (Pobeda) field. That is significantly more than the estimates previously announced by Rosneft.

Following the completed drilling operation, Rosneft in late October 2014 officially estimated the oil resources in the field to 128,7 million tons.

In the meeting, Novak also highlighted results in Gazprom Neft’s Prirazlomnoye field which in 2014 produced about 300,000 tons, a transcript reads.

As previously reported, Rosneft and ExxonMobil in early fall 2014 conducted a historical drilling operation in the Kara Sea. The drilling revealed major oil resources at the University-1, a structure which was subsequently renamed to Pobeda (Victory). Following the major operation, the cooperation between Rosneft and Exxon came to a stop because of the western sanction regime against Russian offshore activities.

According to Rosneft, the Pobeda oil is of extremely good quality. It is a super-light oil which contains only 0,02 percent of sulphure, company President Igor Sechin said.