Russia open to more oil exploration partnerships

WASHINGTON - Agence France-Presse

Russian PM Putin (R) shakes hands with Exxon Mobile CEO Rex W. Tillerson. AP photo

Russia’s vice premier is dropping hints he would welcome greater international cooperation to explore for oil in his country. Vice Premier Igor Sechin was referring to a new partnership between Russian oil and gas company Rosneft and its U.S. rival ExxonMobil.

The agreement with ExxonMobil is “quite special, but there will be others” Sechin told the Wall Street Journal during a visit to the United States this week. In the interview on April 21, Sechin described the Exxon-Rosneft agreement as “a long-term collaboration, which would be extended for decades - 30, 40 or 50 years.” The alliance could generate investments of $200 billion to $300 billion by the partner companies over several decades, Sechin told the Wall Street Journal. Officials from the two parties signed documents in Moscow finalizing their strategic partnership for oil exploration in the Russian Arctic, Black Sea, the United States and Canada.

“Today Rosneft and ExxonMobil enter offshore projects of unprecedented scale in the Russian Arctic and Black Sea regions, which are home to the world’s largest hydrocarbon resources base,” said Rosneft President Eduard Khudainatov.