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(Wall Street Journal) -- Exxon Mobil
Corp. snatched away a major Arctic exploration deal with Russia's OAO Rosneft
from competitors including BP PLC in a sweeping agreement that for the first
time gives a Russian state-controlled company access to energy projects in the
U.S.
WSJ's Liam Denning breaks down the USD 3.2 billion deal struck
between Exxon Mobil and Russia's OAO Rosneft to explore for oil in the Arctic's
Kara Sea.
Exxon, entering a country where energy investments are fraught with
political risk, agreed to invest USD 2.2 billion to explore potentially giant
oil fields with state-run Rosneft in the ice-choked Kara Sea. It also finalized
a deal to spend USD 1 billion looking for oil in the Black Sea. In return,
Rosneft will be able to purchase stakes in some Exxon projects in the U.S.,
including deep-water Gulf of Mexico exploration and onshore oil fields in Texas.
That would mark the first time a state-controlled Russian oil company acquired
ownership stakes in U.S. oil and gas assets.
The deal, signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
at his vacation residence on the Black Sea, is a big win for Exxon as it
competes with other international players for increasingly scarce, large,
untapped oil deposits. It is also an embarrassment for London-based BP, which
tried to negotiate a deal for the same Kara Sea acreage earlier this year. That
deal fell apart in May amid a legal battle with BP's partners in its existing
Russian venture. Other companies, such as Chevron Corp., Total SA and Statoil
ASA, were also angling to grab the Arctic acreage.
mrcplast.com
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