Rosneft won’t resume drilling in Kara Sea in 2015
Russian oil company Rosneft will probably not be able to resume drilling in the Kara Sea this year after ExxonMobil withdrew from the cooperation.
In September 2014 Rosneft informed that the company together with ExxonMobil had discovered more than 100 million tons of oil at the Universitetskaya-1 field in the Kara Sea. A few weeks later, the Western ban on assisting Russia with deep sea or Arctic offshore oil drilling entered into force, and ExxonMobil left the area with the Norwegian own rig “West Alpha”, asBarentsObserver reported.
Rosneft was due to restart drilling this year, but will not be able to do so without cooperation with ExxonMobil, sources in the company say to Reuters. “There will be no drilling in 2015. There is no platform and it is too late to get one. The project was initially created for Exxon’s platform,” a Rosneft source said.
The sources say to Reuters that the company is looking for another rig in order to start drilling in July-August next year, and that commercial production would now be pushed back to beyond 2020.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Canada ponders exceptions to relief well rule for Arctic oil drilling, Alaska Dispatch
Finland: Solar and wind power yield cheapest energy say Finnish experts, Yle News
Greenland: #SavetheArctic… from Greenpeace, Blog by Heather Exner-Pirot
Iceland: From Arctic Circle 2013-2014, a big drop in the price of oil, Blog by Mia Bennett
Norway: ‘Arctic oil is incommensurate with 2ºC target:’ WWF, Barents Observer
Russia: Russia wants Total out of Arctic project, Barents Observer
United States: Shell says it plans to drill in Alaska’s Arctic in 2015, Alaska Dispatch News
