RusEnergy

KRASNOYARSK, February 15 (RIA Novosti) - An oil deposit, which Russian state-controlled crude producer Rosneft [RTS: ROSN] is developing in East Siberia, will produce cheaper oil than Saudi crude, the company's president said on Friday. Sergei Bogdanchikov who attended the 5th economic forum in Krasnoyarsk in Russia's Far East, said the country's eastern regions held good prospects for oil production and refining, adding that the Krasnoyarsk Territory in East Siberia was an important site for hydrocarbon output in Russia. "Our company has been linked to the Krasnoyarsk Territory since the first economic forum was held here in 2004, when we started to develop the Vankor field," Bogdanchikov said. Rosneft has already invested 70 billion rubles ($2.8 billion) in the Vankor deposit, located some 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of the river port city of Igarka with production at the oil field expected to start in August 2008. Vankor crude will be pumped to the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, an ambitious multibillion-dollar project to send Russian hydrocarbons to the energy-hungry Asia-Pacific region countries. Rosneft also plans to start crude production at the Yurubcheno-Takhomsky oil deposit in East Siberia by 2012, Bogdanchikov said. In addition, Rosneft intends to refine 50% of its crude output in Siberian regions by 2020, Bogdanchikov said.