POSITION: Director, energy affairs, for Conoco Inc. , a subsidiary of Dupont, The company's main project now is the Polar Lights oil field development in the Timan-Pechora basin. He has worked for Conoco for 24 years.
QUOTE: "I want to be out where there is a lot of activity. This is the most exciting place to be if you're in the oil business".
A year and a half before Conoco Inc. signed a deal to develop a new oil field in Russia, it purchased 36 miles of pipe for the project.
At a cost in the tens of millions of dollars, the move was risky. But James Tilley, 48, Conoco's director of energy affairs in Russia, said it was part of the way the company secured its deal - by showing commitment.
"It was a sign of confidence that we could do business in Russia", he said.
Now, Tilley boasts of Conoco's accomplishments as a foreign company that has managed to get an oil project going in Russia. "We're the only company that's working", he said.
In June, Conoco announced it had signed a deal with the Russian government to develop the first new oil field in the country. The project, called Polar Lights, is a joint venture between Conoco and a Russian partner, Arkhangelskgeologia.
The fields are located west of the Ural Mountains near the Arctic Circle. The project is unique in Russia because it is the first oil development in an area without existing production. The first phase involves a $700 million investment to develop what is known as the Ardalin complex.
Tilley said that the pipes to connect the fields to an existing pipeline arrived in early October. Over time, with the development of other fields, the total investment could reach $3 billion.
The project will employ about 150 to 200 Western and Russian workers and use Russian drilling rigs.
"The education and skill of the Russian workers is very high", Tilley said. "They suffer from a shortage of technology and equipment".
By comparison, the Conoco office in Moscow is small, with about 13 full-time employees.
Like other oil companies in Russia, Conoco has had to grapple with changing laws and changing government officials.
A new law that could affect the
expansion of the Polar Lights project requires a bidding process for the award of new reserves. Tilley would not comment on the law but said:
"We are still negotiating on another area. Conoco looks forward to participating in the bidding. Our long-term strategy is to stay in Russia for the next 50 to 100 years".
Conoco was in midstream on the Polar Lights project when the government enacted a $5 per barrel export tax.
"The export tax came and you simply could not invest", said Tilley, who is also head of the American Business Club, an organization of American executives in Moscow.
Conoco and another major oil concern, Gulf Canada, were able to negotiate exemptions.
Tilley, a 24-year Conoco veteran, is reticent about many of the details of his company's operations here. In the supercompetitive Russian oil business, most foreign companies are keeping tight-lipped,
But he is not shy about discussing his goals for the company.
"I'd like to establish Conoco as one of the most successful companies in Russia, not only from a profit standpoint but also from an environmental and safety standpoint", he said.
Tilley has also been posted for Conoco in the United Arab Emirates, Libya, The Hague, and Houston.
He doesn't hesitate when asked why he came to Russia.
"I want to be out where there is a lot of activity", he said. "This is the most exciting place to be if you're in the oil business".
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