ThoughtStream: Opinion
Rosneft is the largest subsoil licenseholder in the Russian offshore. Total estimated recoverable resources under these licenses exceed 275 billion boe. The exploration program includes drilling 96 wells. I hope that the representatives of Halliburton, Schlumberger, Saipem, Weatherford and other service companies hear my message.
In order to develop such largescale projects, Rosneft has engaged ExxonMobil, Eni, and Statoil as its strategic partners. Their investments in geological exploration during the first stage will amount to at least $14 billion. We continue to establish new partnerships and expand the existing ones – for example, Rosneft and ExxonMobil have recently extended their partnership in the Arctic with seven additional licenses.
As part of this strategic cooperation, Rosneft and its partners assumed obligations for Russian content of the considerable equipment investments. We started engineering and construction of a drilling platform for Arctic offshore exploration at Russian shipyards using advanced international technologies.
Technologies, experience, and experts are being exchanged. I am glad to announce that during HIS CERAWeek [March 4-8] we signed a deal with ExxonMobil to acquire a 30% stake in the Loki block in the central Gulf of Mexico.
This February, Rosneft signed an agreement with ExxonMobil to enter Point Thompson, offshore Alaska. Last year, we joined the Cardium project in [southern Alberta] Canada.
Our offshore investment decisions will make a provision for anchor orders from other industries. Russia invites the leading suppliers of equipment and oil services providers to participate in the development of the Arctic shelf. It is expected that during the first stage of the offshore development alone, investments will exceed $500 billion–this effect is noticeable even on the global scale.
On our website, www.rosneft.ru, you can find the initial list of equipment, which is required for the exploration stage in the Russian offshore.
Last year marked the beginning of large-scale operations on the Russian Arctic shelf. Rosneft successfully performed an exploration program at our fields in the Kara Sea. As a result of that, and together with our partner ExxonMobil, we selected the Universitetskaya structure to drill in the Kara Sea, where spudding is scheduled for 2014 – a year ahead of the license requirement.
The West Alpha semi-submersible drilling platform has been contracted to drill this well. We expect that, based on the drilling results, we should be able to open a new Arctic offshore oil and gas province by the end of 2014. The estimated resource base of this block alone is more than 35 billion boe and the total resources for the Kara Sea are above 100 billion boe. Rosneft has been, and remains, a reliable partner for international oil and gas companies in Russia and abroad. Over the last year, we have made a breakthrough in establishing strategic partnerships with ExxonMobil, Statoil, ENI, and BP. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the leaders of these companies for their keen approach based on mutual trust.
We are interested in establishing long-term partnerships with leading service and research companies. I believe that only through the joint efforts of companies and national governments to harmonize the regulatory and tax environment can we ensure the sustainable development of global energy markets. OE
Igor Sechin has served as president of Rosneft and chairman of its management board since May 2012. He previously served as chairman of the board of directors from 2004-2011.
Subscribe
