Rosneft和Statoil在俄罗斯远东地区开始钻井作业

MOSCOW — Rosneft and Statoil have started drilling an exploration well in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East.

In 2012, Rosneft and Statoil signed a cooperation agreement to jointly explore areas of the Russian shelf and for Rosneft, in return, to take part in exploration on the Norwegian shelf.

According to a Rosneft statement released Thursday, the companies spud the Ulberikanskaya-1 well, which lies in the Lisiansky license area, one year ahead of their license obligations.

The companies are also planning to drill a second well, within the Magadan-1 section of the Sea of Okhotsk, later this year. Water depth at both sites is less than 150 m.

“Rosneft is the country’s only company that continues the work on new projects offshore in accordance with its license obligations despite the complicated external environment,” Igor Sechin, chairman of Rosneft’s management board, said. “We are pleased to commence the key stage of project within the scope of the long-term cooperation with our partner—Statoil—the drilling of exploration wells in the Sea of Okhotsk.”