russian: Черноморнефтегаз , native_name_lang = ru , romanized_name = , former type = , type = State unitary enterprise , traded_as = , industry = Oil and gas , fate = , predecessor = , successor = , foundation = 1979 , founder = , defunct = , location_city = Simferopol , location_country = Crimea , locations = , area_served = , key_people = Igor Shabanov (Director General) , products = Natural gas

Crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

Natural-gas condensate , production = of natural gas (2013) , services = Pipeline transportation
Natural gas distribution , revenue = , revenue_year = , operating_income = , income_year = , net_income = , net_income_year = , assets = , assets_year = , equity = , equity_year = , owner =

Naftogaz Naftogaz of Ukraine ( uk, НАК "Нафтогаз України", ''Naftogaz Ukrayiny''; literally "Petro-Gas of Ukraine") is the largest national oil and gas company of Ukraine. It is a state-owned company

(''de jure'')
Republic of Crimea (''de facto'') , num_employees = , parent = , divisions = , subsid = , homepage = , footnotes = , intl = , bodystyle = Chornomornaftogaz (also: Chernomorneftegaz, uk, Чорноморнафтогаз, russian: Черноморнефтегаз, lit. "Black Sea oil and gas") is an oil and gas company located along Krymgazseti in Simferopol, Crimea. The company was established with the order of the

Ministry of Gas Industry The Ministry of the Gas Industry (Mingazprom; russian: Министерство газовой промышленности СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union responsible for the Soviet oil industry and related sectors. It was ...

of the USSR on 20 October 1978 №209-org to develop oil and gas resources in the Black Sea and the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

. It is legally a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of Ukraine's

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

oil and gas company

. However, after the

2014 Crimean crisis In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The Revolution of Dign ...

it was seized by the region's parliament in the run-up to its annexation by Russia. There was also a privately owned oil company Chernomorneftegaz, registered in Moscow in 1998 and purchased by Rosneft in 2011, which is not linked to Chornomornaftogaz.

History

The company was established with the order of the

of the USSR on October 20, 1978 №209-org to develop oil and gas resources in the Black Sea and the

. The May 2012 purchase of ''Petro Hodovanets'' (ex-''West Juno'') and ''Nezalezhnist'' was criticized due to corruption and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

allegations and higher purchase price that the market price. These rigs were nicknamed the "Boyko towers" after the former energy minister

Yuriy Boyko Yuriy Anatoliyovych Boyko ( uk, Юрій Анатолійович Бойко, russian: Ю́рий Анато́льевич Бо́йко; born 9 October 1958) is a Ukrainian politician who served as one of the Vice Prime Ministers of Ukraine betw ...

. Its total reserves of all fields are estimated at of natural gas, 1.231 million tons of natural-gas condensate, and 2.53 million tons of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

. In 2013, Chornomornaftogaz produced of natural gas. In 2012, it produced of natural gas, 62,800 tonnes of natural-gas condensate, and 8,900 tonnes of crude oil. The research group IHS reported that in 2013 Chornomorneftegaz accounted for 7.9% of Ukraine's gas production and 2.4% of its oil production. During annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014 the company was seized by the region's parliament in the run-up to its annexation by Russia. In February 2014, Ukraine's

oil and gas company

sued Chornomornaftogaz for delayed debt payments of 11.614 billion UAH (almost €1 billion) in the Economic Court of the

Crimean Autonomous Republic The Autonomous Republic of Crimea, commonly known as Crimea, is a de jure autonomous republic of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,

. In March 2014, Crimean authorities announced that they would nationalize the company. Crimean deputy prime minister

Rustam Temirgaliev Rustam Ilmirovich Temirgaliev (russian: Рустам Ильмирович Темиргалиев, uk, Рустам Ільмирович Темиргалієв, tt-Cyrl, Рөстәм Ильмир улы Темиргалиев) is the Director G ...

said that Russia's

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...

would be the new owner. A group of Gazprom representatives, including its head of business development, has been working at the Chornomornaftogaz head office since mid-March 2014. Formally, nationalized assets were transferred to the newly established company Crimean Republican Enterprise Chernomorneftegaz, which was later reorganized into

state unitary enterprise A unitary enterprise (russian: унитарное предприятие) is a government-owned corporation in Russia and some other post-Soviet states. Unitary enterprises are business entities that have no ownership rights to the assets that th ...

Chernomorneftegaz. On 11 April 2014, the U.S. Treasury's

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...

announced that it had added Chornomornaftagaz to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List as part of the

U.S. sanctions against Russia Sanctions, economic or international, that have been imposed on Russia include: * International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War (2014–) ** Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, US legislation (2017) ** International sanc ...

. Reuters quoted an

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

U.S. official who explained that the United States wanted to make it impossible for Gazprom to "have dealings with Chornomornaftogaz", and if that were to happen, Gazprom itself could face sanctions. The European Union followed suit on 13 May 2014, the first time its sanctions list has included a company. Naftogaz has considered to file a suit against Russia in international arbitration for a compensation for the seized company. In December 2015, Chornomornaftogaz moved two jack-up rigs—Tavrida and Petro Hodovanets—from

Odeske gas field The Odeske gas field natural gas field located on the continental shelf of the Black Sea. It was discovered in 2009 and developed by Chornomornaftogaz in cooperation with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. It started commercial productio ...

to Russian territorial waters due to disputed status of the field and a risk that rigs will be arrested by the Ukrainian authorities. On 20 June 2022, when the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was in full swing, Sergey Aksyonov announced that "the enemy" had struck an undisclosed Chornomornaftogaz production facility somewhere in the Black Sea near

Tarkhankut The Tarkhankut Peninsula ( uk, Тарханкутський півострів, russian: Тарханкутский полуостров, ) is the peninsula which constitutes the western extremity of Crimea into the Black Sea. Its northern shore ...

, the southwestern cape of the peninsula. Aksyonov reported that there had been three strikes at three natural gas rigs.

Operations

Chornomornaftogaz is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in natural gas explorations and production, transport,

storage Storage may refer to: Goods Containers * Dry cask storage, for storing high-level radioactive waste * Food storage * Intermodal container, cargo shipping * Storage tank Facilities * Garage (residential), a storage space normally used to store car ...

, and distribution. It operates the Hlibovske underground gas storage. Its offshore operations are concentrated primarily in the northwestern part of the Black Sea

shelf Shelf ( : shelves) may refer to: * Shelf (storage), a flat horizontal surface used for display and storage Geology * Continental shelf, the extended perimeter of a continent, usually covered by shallow seas * Ice shelf, a thick platform of ice f ...

. The company has licenses for 17 fields, including 11 gas fields, four oil fields and two gas condensate fields. Its licenses for offshore fields include: * Odeske, * Shtormove, * Prykerchenske, * Holitsynske, * Arkhangelske, * Bezimenne, * Subbotinske, and * Strilkove In addition it owns licenses for

Jankoy Dzhankoi or Jankoy is a town of regional significance in the northern part of Crimea, an internationally recognized ''de jure'' part of Ukraine, but since 2014 a ''de facto'' federal subject of the Russian Federation. It also serves as administ ...

and Semenwckoye onshore fields. The company owns four jack-up rigs (Syvash, Tavrida, Petro Hodovanets, and Nezalezhnist) and eight fixed drilling platforms.

References

External links

* {{official Companies based in Crimea Natural gas pipeline companies Natural gas companies of Ukraine Natural gas companies of Russia Oil companies of Ukraine Oil companies of Russia Crimea Natural gas companies of the Soviet Union