Rosneft, Eni Sign Russian Offshore Deals

President of Rosneft Igor Sechin and CEO of Eni Paolo Scaroni have signed an agreement, ensuring the two companies' cooperation on a number of projects in the Russian Barents and Black Seas.

The agreement finalises a cooperation agreement previously signed in April of this year and will see the two set up a number of joint ventures. Rosneft will take a 66.67 per cent stake in each joint venture with Eni taking the other 33.33 per cent stake.

Italian Eni will undertake financing on the projects, having agreed to cover "all the costs related to fulfilling license obligations related to geological exploration on carry financing terms", a statement from Rosneft said. Additionally, Eni has agreed to finance 33.33 per cent of license acquisition costs, relative to its stake, for each project.

The exploration efforts will focus on fields in the Central Barents, Fedynsky and Western Chernomorsky blocks, three blocks rich in both oil and gas.

Rosneft estimates that in the Central Barents and Fedynsky blocks, both in the Barents Sea, there are reserves of 2 billion tonnes of oil and 1.9 trillion cubic metres of gas. 2D seismic surveying on both is expected to begin next year with 3D seismic to take place in 2015/2016.

The Western Chernomorsky block, found in the Black Sea, is estimated to have oil reserves of 1.4 billion tonnes.

The agreement is just one of several Rosneft struck yesterday at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum in Russia. The company also signed a deal with VTB Bank yesterday, giving it access to 100 billion rubles ($3 billion) credit.

President of Rosneft Igor Sechin said last night that the loan would be used to fund Russian projects.

"All of these projects will be realized through our partnership with VTB and using the credit line," Bloomberg reports Mr. Sechin as saying. "The credit is for regional projects in Russia."