U.S. energy behemoth
ExxonMobil Corporation
(
XOM
) and Russian state-owned company OAO Rosneft have agreed upon a
joint venture for assessing the prospect of commercial production
of light oil reserves at the Bazhenov and Achimov reservoirs in
Western Siberia.
The group will set up a pilot plan and ExxonMobil will have an
equity stake of 49% while Rosneft will hold the remaining 51%
interest under the venture. The activities will be across
Rosneft's 23 license blocks that span over 10,000 square
kilometers.
Russia's biggest oil producer − Rosneft − will offer its
workforce and its infrastructure, while ExxonMobil will pitch in
with $300 million for the pilot agenda besides providing
state-of-the-art technologies and specialists in geology,
development and well engineering and completion. The U.S. major
will also facilitate production management services for drilling
activates.
The ExxonMobil-Rosneft strategic alliance is endowed with the
capabilities to fully evaluate and potentially develop this huge
tight oil resource in North America and elsewhere.
In recent years, the U.S. energy behemoth has been busy tapping
hydrocarbon deposits in shale rock formations. An unconventional
source of energy, tight oil is similar to shale deposits and is
locked in rock formations that must be cracked open to exploit
oil reserves. Over the past few months,
Eni SpA
(
E
) and
Statoil ASA
(
STO
) along with other Russian companies have also shown interest in
the development of Arctic fields.
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil and Rosneft have signed a declaration
relating to environmental protection during their oil and gas
exploration venture in the Russian Arctic Continental Shelf.
The declaration elaborates on the measures to be taken to protect
the ecosystem of the Arctic region during the exploration and
development phase. The parties involved intend to set up a
coordination center to supervise the protection of biodiversity
while carrying out exploration and development projects in these
remote and ecologically sensitive regions. They will strictly
adhere to the standards set up by IPIECA, the global oil and gas
industry association for environmental and social issues.
ExxonMobil has a Zacks Rank #3, which translates into a Hold
rating for a period of one to three months. For the long term, we
maintain a Neutral recommendation on the company.
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