Russia may ease foreign access to energy projects

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russia will discuss relaxing laws regulating foreign participation in offshore energy projects to attract investment from abroad, Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev told Reuters on Saturday.

Encouraged by a surge in crude prices from 2002 to a peak in July 2008, Russia passed laws curbing foreign participation in tapping its mineral resources, but oil prices have plummeted since then.

"We will look into this issue (laws regarding foreign investment) first of all in relation to offshore exploration. We believe that state regulation creates many obstacles for exploration," Trutnev said in the resort of Sochi on the sidelines of an economic forum.

The minister also blamed state-controlled energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom, which are the only two firms carrying out offshore exploration in Russia at the moment, for underinvestment.

"Even in pre-crisis 2008, financing volumes were such that the target period for fields' development was estimated at 180 years," Trutnev said. "With such a time horizon it is impossible to plan."

Trutnev said Russia will look at Norway's experience in attracting foreign investment in offshore exploration, saying the government and not state-controlled firms should have a say in who gets access to Russia's resources.

"When we give a license to Rosneft, with all due respect to this company, I am not sure if we should charge it with defending the strategic interests of Russia. There is a government to defend Russia's interests," he said.

Trutnev said that, as in Norway, the state would maintain overall control of the industry but it was interested in foreign firms as co-investors which could bring new technology to Russia.

Russia should use offshore projects to develop other industries. "We can use this God's gift to develop machine building, pipe production and other industries, producing everything that we are importing today," he said.

The government could help to create consortiums with foreign participation, he noted. Russia would offer more attractive energy fields at upcoming auctions and seek to group licenses into larger blocks to create better conditions for building infrastructure, he added.

(Editing by David Stamp)