Autonomous Vehicle Consultant

According to the German online news outlet, der Spiegel, Russia and the United States are starting a mega oil project in the Arctic. It is an agreement of historic dimensions involving ExxonMobil and the Russian firm, Rosneft. This agreement ($3.2B) envisions producing oil in the Arctic Kara Sea and also in the Black Sea. The entire investment could amount to $500B.

Experts suspect gigantic crude oil reserves that can be extracted due to climate change and melting ice. The Russian concern, Rosneft, does not possess technology for deep drilling and has been seeking a partner for oil production in the Arctic. Experts estimate that nearly 20 percent of the  remaining, world-wide crude oil could be produced from the Arctic see floor. As a counter move, Rosneft will be permitted to work in ExxonMobil fields located in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. Participation by Rosneft in ExxonMobil third world countries is possible. The agreement foresees construction of a research center and mutual training.

After months of negotiations, BP ended talks with the Russians during May. BP wanted to structure a joint venture and in the process find compensation for the Gulf of Mexico disaster as part of the deal. A disadvantage of this Rosneft-ExxonMobil arrangement is that the Arctic presents enormous exploration and production challenges. In contrast, the advantage is that the Artic is politically stabile and far removed from Saudi Arabia.

Translated from German by Dr. Jeffrey Everson

August 30, 2011