Offshore staff
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – Rosneft (MICEX:ROSN) and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) have completed forming a joint venture to explore the Kara and Black seas and other Russian Arctic licenses.
The initial cost of exploration in the two areas is estimated at more than $3.2 billion, the majority of which will be financed by ExxonMobil. Data collection in both regions will continue this year, with drilling operations anticipated for 2014.
The Black Sea and Kara Sea joint venture operating companies, Tuapsemorneftegaz SARL and Karmorneftegaz SARL respectively, will implement activities as operator pursuant to agreement with Rosneft, which is the license holder. Rosneft holds 66.67% interest and ExxonMobil holds 33.33% interest in the two projects.
The agreement also involves establishing a new joint venture for a tight oil project in western Siberia, and for work to establish an LNG facility in theRussian Far East.
ExxonMobil and Rosneft earlier announced plans to increase theirstrategic cooperation by adding seven new blocks in the Russian Arctic in the Chukchi Sea, Laptev Sea and Kara Sea, spanning approximately 600,000 sq km (150 million acres).
Data acquisition is being planned for these blocks, and the license obligations stipulate that 14 exploration and appraisal wells will be drilled and a significant amount of 2D and 3D seismic will be conducted over the next decade.
6/25/13
