Russia's state-owned Rosneft has signed agreements with Norwegian firm Statoil to jointly bid for licenses in the Norwegian section of the Barents Sea.
Subsidiaries Rosneft JV Projects and Statoil Petroleum will adhere to a cooperation agreement signed on 5th May, which states that they will take part in the 22nd bidding round for offshore license blocks within the continental shelf.
The document also establishes the boundaries of the area of mutual interest agreed by the partners.
The companies are planning to conduct a joint assessment of the blocks in the area of mutual interest and together submit applications to the relevant Norwegian authorities.
Rosneft will apply for 33.33% in the license blocks and will have to pass the pre-qualification stage in order to be eligible for projects in the Norwegian section of the continental shelf.
Statoil will cover all agreed expenditures for desktop study and pilot phase, including seismic surveying, drilling of vertical and horizontal wells, testing, pilot production, research and modelling at selected blocks.
Image: Rosneft's headquarters in Moscow, Russia. Photo courtesy of: Rosneft.
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