Rosneft, Gazprom eye work on OCS

• Tweet

SOCHI, Russia, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Two of Russia's largest energy companies announced plans to work together on the development of resource fields on the continental shelf.

Top executives from Gazprom and Rosneft met on the sidelines of an investment conference at the Russian resort city of Sochi to discuss resource development on Russia's continental shelf.

"Under the agreement, the two companies will strengthen cooperation to identify the most efficient methods and solutions to drive exploration of Russia's continental shelf and resource development and replacement by combining technical and financial capacities," the companies said.

Both sides said they'd work toward a long-term business strategy that focuses on creating production facilities aimed and exploration and production of offshore fields.

Exxon Mobil and Rosneft in August signed a sweeping deal that included development in parts of the Black Sea and the South Kara Sea in the Russian arctic. There may be as much as 85 billion barrels of oil in the Kara Sea.

Gazprom has estimated reserves in the arctic region near the Pechora Sea at around 527 million barrels, which the energy company said translates to about 43 million barrels of oil production per year.