Norwegian oil major Statoil ASA (ROSN.RS) Thursday said it has agreed to establish joint ventures with its Russian peer OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) for four Russian offshore license areas.

The license areas covered by the agreement are Perseevsky in the
Barents Sea , as well as Kashevarovsky, Lisyansky and Magadan 1 in the Sea of Okhotsk .

As part of the deal, Statoil and Rosneft have agreed to establish a work program aimed at drilling six wildcat wells in the areas between 2016 and 2021. Statoil said it will fully fund the costs in the exploration phase.

Rosneft's share of the four joint ventures will be 66.67%, while Statoil's share will be 33.33%.

At 1046 GMT shares in Statoil traded 1.3% lower at NOK147.10.