Soyuzneftegaz is a Russian oil and gas company. It is headed by Russia's former energy minister Yuri Shafranik

Yuri Shafranik

Yuri Shafranik is a former Russian energy minister and the chairman of the Soyuzneftegaz company. He was bornin Karasul village of Ishimskiy district in Tyumen Oblast. In 1974, he graduated from the Tyumen Industrial Institute. Since 1974 he worked in different oil and gas companies such as...

. The main shareholder is the Central Bank of Russia.

History

Soyuzneftegaz was established in 2000. In early 2003, Soyuzneftegaz signed a contract with he Iraqi authorities for developing the Rafidein oil field in southern Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. Soyuzneftegaz received 25.5 Moilbbl in the Oil-for-Food Programme

Oil-for-Food Programme

The Oil-for-Food Programme , established by the United Nations in 1995 was established with the stated intent to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraq to boost its military...

, according to the paper The Beneficiaries of Saddam's Oil Vouchers: The List of 270.

In 2004, Soyuzneftegaz gained control over UzPEC company, which since 2001 had a production-sharing agreement with Uzbekneftegaz

Uzbekneftegaz

Uzbekneftegaz ) is a state-owned holding company of Uzbekistan's oil and gas industry.-History:Uzbekneftegaz was established in 1992...

 for the Central Ustyurt and South-Western Gissar hydrocarbon deposits in Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

. In 2007, Uzbekneftegaz conducted the production-sharing agreement for these fields with Soyuzneftegaz Vostok, a wholly owned subsidiary of Soyuzneftegaz. In March 2008, Soyuzneftegaz Vostok was acquired by other Russian company Lukoil

LUKoil

Lukoil/LUKoil ; ) is Russia's second largest oil company and its second largest producer of oil. In 2009, the company produced 97.615 million tons of oil; ....

.

In October 2004 Soyuzneftegaz won a tender in Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

 for the onshore Blocks 12 and 14 near Iraqi border. In 2006, the company decided not to continue with the development of Block 14, but continued work on Block 12. In 2005, Soyuzneftegaz acquired a 50% working interest in Block 26 in the northeast of Syria through its wholly owned subsidiary SNG Overseas. Later this year, SNG Overseas was bought by the United Kingdom-based oil company Emerald Energy

Emerald Energy

Emerald Energy plc is a British energy company with headquarters in London but is registered offshore in the Isle of Man. The Company specializes in oil exploration and production of hydrocarbons...

 for exchange of US$7.3 million and 10% stake in Emerald Energy. In August 2009, Soyuzneftegaz sold its shares in Emerald Energy to Chinese petrochemical company Sinochem.

In 2005, Soyuzneftegaz acquired one of Russia's largest drilling companies Sibirskaya Servisnaya Kompaniya.