Russia gains access to North America in Exxon deal

Russian state oil firm Rosneft will gain access to North American energy sources and know-how for developing hard-to-produce reserves when it finalizes a joint venture with Exxon Mobil Corp. today, unnamed industry sources have told Reuters. Rosneft was offered a role in seven projects under a landmark deal last year with the biggest U.S. oil company, which could open up 36 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic offshore and help keep Russia’s place as the world’s top producer. Rosneft chose three Exxon projects to start with—in West Texas, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the Canadian province of Alberta—and will gain minority interests in them, the sources say. Further projects may eventually be pursued. Rosneft’s focus in North America will be on so-called unconventional hydrocarbons—including resources such as shale oil and shale gas. It will now seek to deploy the advanced recovery methods used there at its own fields in Siberia. The joint venture deal will be formalized on Monday, the sources say. Finalizing it will mark a major turnaround for Exxon, which scaled back its presence in Russia after failing to take over the country’s largest oil company Yukos, whose boss, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested in 2003. Read the full story here for more details.