ExxonMobil Partners With Russian Oil Giant

ExxonMobil and the Russian company Rosneft are joining forces to tap into West Siberia’s oil reserves. The approach to tapping the oil reserves will be two pronged using a tight oil strategy aimed for low-permeability reservoirs and establishing an Arctic design center. A pilot study will be conducted to find out the technical feasibility of developing oil reserves in Western Siberia. Work will be focused on Rosneft's Bazhenov and Achimov reservoirs in Western Siberia and drilling is scheduled to begin in 2013. Technology successfully employed by ExxonMobil in North America will be used as part of the program. The two companies will also oversee the establishment of a technical research center for Arctic exploration and development. The research center will be designed to provide a range of services to support oil and gas development in the Arctic. Some of the services provided at the research center will include logistics and safety, ice resistant offshore vessel design, ice monitoring and management as well as Arctic pipelines and structures. The center will also include a marine incident warning and prevention division for prevention and response to oil spill emergencies. Exxon Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said the companies will now focus on the technical planning and execution of exploration activities with the goal of developing significant new energy supplies to meet growing global demand. “The agreement marks a change in the traditional relationship between Western companies and the Russian oil world, which has viewed foreign oil investment with suspicion. Exxon gets to work in one of the few regions of the world that could yield enough new reserves to move the needle for the oil giant, and Rosneft gets to flex its muscles in North America, a red-hot area for energy investment that has attracted billions from China, India and elsewhere. "It's much more a partnership of equals rather than a colonial relationship," says Robin West, Chief Executive of PFC Energy.