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BP, Rosneft back out of Sakhalin-4

MOSCOW, March 3 (UPI) -- BP pulled out of exploration at a facility near Sakhalin Island in Russia when drilling failed to reveal natural resource reserves.

BP said it abandoned exploration at Sakhalin-4 when drilling came up empty. Rosneft, the Russian partner in the area, backed out of its license there as well, the Financial Times reports.

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Fields associated with Sakhalin-4 were estimated to hold around 3 billion barrels of oil and an estimated 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Rosneft and BP will maintain their venture for Sakhalin-5, however, though explorations there are in the early stages.

The news follows promising developments in previously explored regions in Sakhalin Island where several oil majors, including Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, have invested. BP and Rosneft, however, suspended drilling more than a year ago.

In the natural gas sector there, Russian energy giant Gazprom opened its first liquefied natural gas facility in February associated with Sakhalin-2 fields.

Investors expect BP to announce Tuesday that they are one of the few oil companies that increased overall production for 2008.

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