History
Imperial Energy is an upstream oil exploration and production company focused on Russian Federation.
The Company was founded by a group of Russian and foreign investors as an independent middle size oil producer in 2004. Through a series of acquisitions, by the end of 2004, the company had controlling stakes in four license-holding companies, three of which had exploration acreages in the Tomsk area of Western Siberia and one near Kostanai in Kazakhstan. Imperial Energy held a vast program of exploration works which has led to 7 new fields discoveries in Tomsk region. Thanks to its strategy, Imperial rapidly moved from being a junior oil and gas exploration company to an exploration and production organization.
Imperial Energy is a company of international level. In 2004 Imperial Energy listed its shares on London’s AIM exchange, then moved to the main LSE market in May 2007 and became a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
The company was acquired by ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), the overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the flagship National Oil Company of India on 13th January, 2009 and the company was delisted from LSE on 9th March 2009.
In 2006, IEC established its own drilling company, RUS IMPERIAL GROUP (RIG), which now operates three heavy duty drilling rigs, three workover rigs and a coiled tubing unit. Shortly IEC also owned 50% of a company that provides hydraulic fracture services to improve production in its fields and service to the third parties.
During the period 2007-08, IEC built 367 km of pipeline infrastructure connecting its fields to the Transneft pipeline system. Prior to its pipeline completion, IEC was selling all of its oil at the wellhead to local off-takers for use in the Russian domestic market. The completion of pipelines gave Imperial Energy the ability to transport all of its oil production to both domestic and export markets.
ONGC Videsh Ltd. (OVL)
Imperial Energy’s parent company, OVL is currently engaged in 37 oil and gas projects spread across 18 countries of the world: Brazil, Columbia, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Vietnam. In the year 2001, OVL had acquired 20% share of the Russia’s Sakhalin-1 project. OVL is engaged in development and commercial production in Sakhalin together with the largest worldwide oil and gas companies - Exxon Mobil, Rosneft, Japanese company SODECO. OVL today operates in different regions of the world in partnership with the leaders of the world industry: British Petroleum, CNPC, Ecopetrol, ENI, Exxon, Norsk Hydro, PDVSA, Petrobras, Petronas, Petrovietnam, Repsol, Rosneft, Shell, Sinopec, Total and TPOC.
OVL in Russia
OVL established its presence in the Russian upstream sector in 2001, when it acquired a 20% stake in the ExxonMobil operated Sakhalin-1 project. The Sakhalin-1 Project is an oil and gas development on the northeast shelf of Sakhalin Island. It was declared commercial in October, 2001. The Project area is comprised of the Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi fields. Total recoverable reserves are estimated to be 2.3 billion barrels of oil (307 million tons) and 17.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas (485 billion cubic meters).
The Onshore Production Facility (OPF) started up in October 2006, allowing ramp-up of oil production to a targeted peak rate of 250,000 barrels (34,000 metric tons) of oil per day in February 2007. Natural gas supplies to Khabarovsk Krai have now grown to a 2007 average supply rate of 115 million cubic feet (3.27 million cubic meters) per day, and reached a peak rate of 200 million cubic feet/day (5.85 million cubic meters/day) in January 2008.
