OREANDA-NEWS. December 15, 2010. NOVATEK (“NOVATEK” and/or the “Company”) announced the closing of the transaction for the acquisition of a 51% participation interest in LLC  SeverEnergia (“SeverEnergia”) by LLC  Yamal Development, a 50/50 joint venture between NOVATEK and JSC  Gazprom Neft. The remaining 49% interest in SeverEnergia is held by Artic Russia B.V. a 60/40 joint venture between Italian oil and gas and energy companies ENI S.p.A and Enel S.p.A, respectively.

The acquisition price for the 51% participation interest amounted to RR 48,714.74 million, including NOVATEK’s share of RR 24,357.37 million. Additionally, Yamal Development assumed an outstanding shareholder loan in the amount of RR 7,531.87 million, based on its pro rata interest in SeverEnergia, and NOVATEK’s share of the loan totaled RR 3,765.94 million. The total aggregate consideration for the acquisition was USD  0.26 per barrel of oil equivalent based on the ABC plus C2 reserves acquired from SeverEnergia.

SeverEnergia plans to use the combined experience of the Company and the other shareholders to optimize the development of its multi-layered gas, gas condensate and crude oil fields in order to effectively exploit the fields’ hydrocarbon reserves.

The Company will account for its 25.5% interest in SeverEnergia under the equity method.