Norway’s oil minister says he will dare to share with Russia
The two countries are ready to exchange geological data and restart discussions on joint development of cross-border fields.
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«I have today had a constructive meeting with Russian Natural Resource Minister [Sergey] Donskoy, it was held in a good spirit of cooperation between two countries both concerned about a reliable and secure oil industry in the Barents Sea», Tord Lien underlined after this week’s talks in Oslo.
The minister of petroleum and energy confirms that Norway and Russia have agreed to share geological data from their maritime border areas and to speed up the conclusion of a deal on seismic mapping along the borderline, a press release informs.
Negotiations over the seismic deal have been progressing over the last year. It will allow seismic vessels to map all waters adjacent to the border and cross the borderline with their streamers.
The Russian side confirms that the agreement has been submitted to government for approval and that it is expected to be approved before year’s end. «In addition, we are in the near future likely to sign another important document, the one on exchange of seismic data from the Barents Sea between the Federal Mineral Agency and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate»,Donskoy adds in a press release.
According to Russian minister, Moscow is also supporting a Norwegian proposal to restart the full-fledged work of a joint working group on so-called unitization, the joint development of cross-border fields.
«Russia is interested in developing projects on energy and extraction on the shelf, consequently our country is very interested in joint activity with Norway in the Barents Sea», Donskoy said, adding that the two countries should seek industrial cooperation also other places on the World Ocean.
During his visit to Norway, Minister Donskoy also paid a visit to Statoil, where he invited the company to engage in new projects in Russia. The Russian shelf holds about 100 billion tons of oil equivalents, the minister told the Norwegian oilmen and added that «the opening of huge and unique fields is very likely».
Donskoy also presented Russian plans for development of shale oil from the Abalaksky and Bazhenovsky formations, the Natural Resource Ministry informs.
Statoil press spokesperson Erik Haaland says to the Barents Observer that the meeting included a «general overview of Statoil’s activities in Russia».
«In addition, Statoil presented its investments in climate and energy efficiency», Haaland says. «Our focus is on existing projects, the border areas were not an issue in the meeting».
