March 2013, Vol. 240, No. 3

Projects

ExxonMobil, Rosneft To Explore In Arctic

Rosneft and ExxonMobil have agreed to expand their cooperation under their 2011 Strategic Cooperation Agreement to include an additional 600,000 square kilometers (150 million acres) of exploration acreage in the Russian Arctic and potential participation by Rosneft (or its affiliate) in the Point Thomson project in Alaska. They will also conduct a joint study on a potential LNG project in the Russian Far East.

The agreements include plans to explore seven new blocks in the Chukchi Sea, Laptev Sea and Kara Sea that are considered among the most promising and least explored offshore areas globally.

A separate Heads of Agreement was signed providing Rosneft an opportunity to acquire a 25% interest in the Point Thomson Unit, which covers development of a remote natural gas and condensate field on Alaska’s North Slope. It is estimated that Point Thomson contains 25% of the known gas resource base in Alaska’s North Slope.