U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) Thursday became the second company in a month to sign a major offshore oil exploration agreement with Russian oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS), following a similar deal with BP PLC (BP).
U.S.
oil
giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) Thursday became the second company in a month to
sign a major offshore oil exploration agreement with Russian oil company OAO
Rosneft (ROSN.RS), following a similar deal with BP PLC (BP).
The deal is ExxonMobil's biggest new venture in
Russia
since
it agreed landmark ventures to produce oil and gas off the coast of
Sakhalin
in
Russia
's far
east. It shows how
Russia
is
drawing in the expertise of Western oil companies to explore the country's
largely untapped coastal waters. Rosneft has little experience in offshore
drilling and is keen to access the advanced technology of companies like
ExxonMobil and BP.
ExxonMobil and Rosneft will jointly explore the Tuapse Trough area of Russia's
Black Sea, an area that could contain around 7.3 billion barrels of oil
equivalent, said Rosneft Chairman and Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Igor
Sechin, at a press conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum
annual meeting here.
"ExxonMobil will bring its technology, project execution capabilities and
innovation to complement Rosneft's strengths and experience in the
region," said the company's Chairman and Chief Executive, Rex Tillerson,
in a statement.
"We will build on the successful relationship we have with Rosneft through
the Sakhalin-1 project to help meet energy needs in Russia and the wider Black
Sea area," he said.
"ExxonMobil technologies will effectively complement Rosneft's experience
and resources," said Sechin. "Development of this area will become
the springboard for full-scale
Black Sea
basin
development."
The companies' joint statement didn't give details of the ownership structure
of the agreement, or how the cost of exploration will be shared.
In its deal with BP, Rosneft will own two-thirds of the exploration joint
venture, but BP will carry the first $2 billion in exploration costs. The
companies also made a cross-shareholding agreement that will see BP take an
additional 9.5% stake in Rosneft, and Rosneft take 5% of BP.
At 1115 GMT Thursday Rosneft shares were trading slightly up at 247.59 rubles
on Russia's Micex exchange.
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