Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) and oil major OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) have signed an agreement on sharing Arctic and Far eastern offshore hydrocarbon fields, Interfax news agency reported Tuesday.
Interfax cited an unnamed government source as saying that the shelf would be split up between the two companies according to the prevalence of oil or gas, as well as to where the companies' interests lie.
The same source said that Gazprom and Rosneft will have to draft a program for the shelf development and submit it to the Russian Federal Subsurface Resources Agency, or Rosnedra, and to the Natural Resources Ministry for their approval, adding that the deadline for submission hasn't been set.
The shelf agreement doesn't cover the Caspian and Black seas, or the Sea of Azov, the source said, according to Interfax.