REUTERS
The co-owners of Russian oil giant Lukoil, Vagit Alekperov (22.7%) and Leonid Fedun (9.8%), also own U.S. company Panatlantic Exploration (formerly known as Vanco Energy) specializing in deep-water oil exploration in third world countries, Russian Forbes reports.
According to the publication, the two businessmen bought their share in Vanco Energy in 2010 when it was mired in financial troubles.
Investments in Panatlantic Exploration, according to sources close to Fedun, are believed to amount to more than $100 million.
Olga Plaksina, chairman of the managing board of IFD Capital, which manages the assets of Lukoil shareholders, is the chairman of the board of directors of Panatlantic Group. She told the publication that IFD Capital was one of the shareholders of Panatlantic Exploration.
Panatlantic Exploration has been carried out drilling in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, and Colombia, and has a joint project with DTEK, the largest privately-owned vertically-integrated energy company in Ukraine, which is owned by Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, in the sea area in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, Forbes reports further.
According to Plaksina, the business is "very capital-intensive." The cost of one deep-water well can reach up to $100 million, while the chance that the project will be successful is 30%. The company's head office is located in Houston, where there are professionals in exploration and offshore drilling, Plaksina added.
Lukoil has declined to comment on the report.
Vice President of Panatlantic Exploration Daniel Hogan said that the beneficiaries of the company are individuals, but would not name them. According to a source close to Lukoil, Fedun is in charge of the operational management of the project.