BP and Russia's Rosneft sign Arctic oil deal
- Duration: 1:32
- Published: 15 Jan 2011
- Uploaded: 15 Jan 2011
- Author: timesofearth
www.timesofearth.com LONDON -- BP has signed a joint venture with Russia's state-controlled energy giant Rosneft to explore for offshore oil and gas and in a deal that gives the UK company access to areas of the Arctic previously reserved for Russian companies. The British energy giant will swap five per cent of its shares, valued at $7.8bn, for 9.5 per cent of Rosneft in an agreement that immediately raised concerns about US economic security from US politicians and criticism from environmentalists. The deal covers huge areas of the South Kara Sea in the Arctic that BP, which is still recovering from the financial impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, said could contain billions of barrels of oil and gas. The companies will explore three areas, known as EPNZ 1, 2 and 3, located on the Russian Arctic continental shelf and covering an area of 125000 square kilometres. The government of Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, has pledged to ease investors' access into Russia as it looks to foreigners to play a key role in helping to modernise the economy - including through taking part in a big privatisation drive starting this year. BP is seen as filling a skills and technology gap for Rosneft as it seeks to develop the region. "Rosneft is well aware that its ability to do deepwater Arctic work alone is very limited," Cliff Kupchan, a director at Eurasia Group, a global political risk consultancy based in Washington, said. "They have been looking for ways to bring in <b>...</b>
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