Tatneft

Tatneft was created by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR in April 1950 as a production association under the Ministry of Oil Industry of the USSR by uniting several drilling and derrick maintenance crews operating in Tatarstan.

Upon its establishment, Tatneft commenced the production from various crude oil fields in Tatarstan, most notably the Romashkino (Romashkinskoye) unique super-giant field discovered in 1948. By 1956, Tatneft became the largest crude oil producer in the USSR. In 1971 Tatneft extracted the 1st billionth tonne of crude oil. The annual crude oil production by Tatneft reached 104 million tonnes in 1975. In 2019 Tatneft's annual production was 29,798 thousand tonnes or 212,252 thousand barrels. In 2022, the company's revenue amounted to 1.3 trillion rubles.

In 1994, following its privatization, Tatneft was reorganized into an open joint-stock company. In October 1995, Tatneft shares started to be quoted on the Russian Trading System (RTS) and became one of the first constituents of the RTS Index RTSI. In December 2016 Tatneft listed its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the London Stock Exchange LSE: ATAD Tatneft also had its ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange (stock symbol TNT) between March 1998 and September 2006.

In August 1999, Tatneft shares were listed on MICEX. The Moscow Exchange (which was formed following the merger of MICEX and RTS in 2011) is the primary market for Tatneft's ordinary MCX: TATN and preferred MCX: TATNP shares, and the London Stock Exchange LSE: ATAD for its ADRs.

Tatneft's ADR program is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as Level 1.

In 2005, Tatneft launched the project of building a new extensive refining and petrochemicals complex in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan, which was called TANECO (the company implementing the project and later operating the refinery received the same name – JSC TANECO). The first stage of the new refinery complex was completed in 2010 and put into operation in 2011.

In 2006, Tatneft launched a project to develop heavy oil natural bitumen (super-viscous or highly-viscous oil, HVO) reserves in Tatarstan. After exploring various options for carrying out the project in cooperation with its global peers, Tatneft decided to undertake it independently. As of 31 May 2020, Tatneft is producing over 65 thousand barrels of highly viscous oil per day from 1042 horizontal wells. Since 2013, the company has been developing under the leadership of Nail Ulfatovich Maganov.

Since September 2018, Tatneft has been implementing its 2030 Strategy, which encompasses, among other things, the growth of crude oil production, expansion of Tatneft's refining capabilities, its service station network, and the development of the petrochemicals segment.

The main activities of Tatneft are:

gas and oil exploration and production

gas and oil refining and marketing

petrochemicals (including Nizhnekamskshin tire-making plant)

Controversies

Tatneft has an ongoing dispute with the Government of Ukraine over control in Ukrtatnafta, an owner of the Kremenchuk oil refinery. Ukrainian state-owned energy company Naftogaz Ukrainy owns 43.1% of shares in Ukrtatnafta, Tatneft owns 8.6% and the Government of Tatarstan owns 28.8%. 18% of the shares were transferred to two offshore companies affiliated with Tatneft, a transaction that was not recognized by Ukrainian authorities. According to the court decision, these shares were transferred to Naftogaz. In October 2007, a management change occurred, which is not recognized by Tatneft. In March, Tatneft filed an international arbitration against Ukraine.

On 9 July 2008, after signing an agreement between the United States and the Czech Republic to host a tracking radar for an antiballistic missile system, Tatneft reduced oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech Republic. Tatneft said that it re-routed volumes from the Czech Republic to Turkey due to better prices. Although officially the linkage between the reduction of oil supplies and the radar agreement was not claimed, it was suspected.

Assets of Tatneft in Ukraine were seized in May 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.