Arctic: ExxonMobil Exits, Rosneft Goes Ahead
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
April 1, 2018
Russian state oil company Rosneft will continue geological explorations in the Arctic offshore zone after ExxonMobil quits the joint projects, reports TASS.
The report qouted Natural Resources Minister Sergey Donskoy saying that the Arctic licenses will remain with Rosneft and the company "plans to continue to operate there".
Exxon Mobil decided to withdraw from the joint projects with Rosneft in late 2017 after Washington issued a legal act expanding against Russia.
According to the document, in 2013 and 2014 Exxon Mobil and Rosneft created various entities for operations in oil exploration. In particular, the two companies agreed to work together on the shelf of the Kara Sea, the Chukchi Sea, the Laptev Sea & Black Sea.
Russia’s oil production in the Arctic will reach peak levels in the 2020s. Russia produced about 76 million tonnes of oil in the Arctic, and the production would be growing to 2026 hitting a record of 122 million tonnes a year.
