MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's gas giant Gazprom and largest oil company Rosneft are negotiating joint development of shelf projects via their joint venture Rosshelf, Rosshelf Deputy General Director Igor Khvedchuk said on Thursday.
"Rosneft and Gazprom have already created working groups, which must set out goals and instruments of their partnership," Khvedchuk told Gazprom magazine.
Rosshelf, in which Gazprom and Rosneft hold 56.8% and 26.4% respectively, was set up in 1992 to develop the Russian maritime shelf.
In 2006, Gazprom and Rosneft signed a strategic partnership agreement which envisaged cooperation on the country's shelf. In particular, the companies were interested in development of the Koryakia-1, Koryakia-2 and Magadan-1, Magadan-2 and Magadan-3 areas located on the shelf under the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea.
"Rosneft has by that time grown and raised the question of working on a parity basis," Khvedchuk said, referring to Rosneft's acquisition of the defunct YUKOS oil firm's assets six years ago. "The deal bogged down again."
After Eduard Khudainatov had replaced Sergei Bogdanchikov as Rosneft head last year, the situation improved, Khvedchuk said, adding he hoped that the companies would come to an agreement.
"Our priority is to get a license to develop Koryakia-1. Severo-Chukotsky and Longo-Chukotsky basins in the Chukchi sea are also very promising... I believe that Koryakia-1 is one of the most promising areas, where we can make important discoveries," Khvedchuk said.
He said that three or four estimates showed that oil and gas reserves of Koryakia-1, located on the north-eastern part of the Okhotsk sea, may amount to about 1.5-2 billion tons of oil equivalent.
"Other projects are a subject of negotiations between Gazprom and Rosneft, but they will concern the Chukhotka Sea for sure," he said.
