"Rosneft" will have access to resources in the Gulf of Mexico

Subsidiary of "Rosneft" will participate in the exploration works at ExxonMobil sites in the Gulf of Mexico. The agreement was signed on 5 March [2013] in the framework of the visit of Igor Sechin in the United States a Russian company.

According to the document, the subsidiary of "Rosneft» -Neftegaz Holding America Limited- will receive a 30% interest in 20 deepwater blocks with a total area of ​​about 450 square kilometres. 17 blocks are located in the western part of the Gulf of Mexico, three - in the centre. At the same time ExxonMobil retains 70% interest and remains an operator. Currently,only seismic analysis is being undertaken and works for the extraction is put on the back burner.

Chief of "Rosneft" Igor Sechin said that thanks to the signed agreement "Rosneft" and its subsidiaries have access to the world’s richest oil and gas bearing basins. "- We are confident that our joint efforts will ensure the most effective utilization of land in the Gulf of Mexico ... and received experience and knowledge can be used in the development of deep-water areas of the Russian shelf, in particular, the section of the Tuapse Trough [1], which is included in the Agreement on strategic cooperation . " Recall, "Rosneft" and "of ExxonMobil" continue the implementation of the Agreement on Strategic Cooperation, which was signed by the companies in 2011. It is planned that the two companies will conduct joint work on the exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources in Russia and other countries.

Vitaly Kryukov of IFD "Kapital",in an interview with "Izvestiya", calls the deal being discussed "a mirror" because it is similar to the agreement of the companies on the [Russian shelf in] the Arctic. The expert believes that because Exploration section of Exxon does not have any geological reconnaissance on the area, the level of qualified intelligence can be associated with projects in the Kara Sea. Hooks also noted that, in his opinion, Exxon complex projects offered to Rosneft require large investments and are high-risk. However, he agreed that the Gulf of Mexico is very attractive region for oil. In general, according to the analyst, to talk about the international expansion of "Rosneft" is still too early, but it was more a question of the possibility to gain experience.

Analyst of Raiffeisenbank Andrey Polishchuk agree with my colleague, but in an interview with "Vedomosti" he said that the position of the Russian companies are more profitable, since the Gulf of Mexico oil production has been conducted for a long time and has been very successful (in contrast to the Arctic), and thence carries a lower risk.

According to the vice-president of the Center for Strategic Communications Dmitry Abzalov, access to the US market is promising for "Rosneft", and for Russia as a whole. Region, in his opinion, is attractive in its available transport infrastructure. Plus, with a 30% stake in the project, "Rosneft" will be able to improve its competence in matters of offshore operations, which will be priceless for the company in the Arctic. After the signing of the "shelf" agreement with European companies Eni and Statoil, as well as Asian voyage of Igor Sechin, "Rosneft" in act signposted the main directions of development in foreign markets.

Sergey Pravosudov, director of the National Energy Institute told to programme "However" that "Rosneft" was following the footsteps of "Gazprom". "-The scheme is very simple,and it was pioneered by " Gazprom "- "allow a share in your domestic projects for foreign investors in exchange for the share in their projects in other countries". This allowed the United States to participate in the projects on the Arctic shelf in exchange for Rosneft participation in production of oil in the United States. "Rosneft" is an international corporation that produces oil not only in Russia, that is not news any more. "

In addition to the contract with Exxon, on the March 6 "Rosneft" has signed an agreement on long-term supply [2] of oil from the world’s largest trading companies - Glencore and Vitol. The agreement with Glencore provides for the delivery of up to 46.9 million tons, with Vitol - to 20.1 million tons, according to the "Rosneft" website [3]. Under these contracts the Russian company will receive an advance of up to $ 10 billion, which will be used for general corporate and investment purposes (in particular, they can be used in the transaction for the purchase of TNK-BP, which will reduce the amount of the alleged debt) [4].