Exxon, Shell, Chevron eye working with Rosneft in Arctic
MOSCOW. May 18 (Interfax) - Exxon, Shell, and Chevron are interested in working with Russian oil company Rosneft on the country's continental shelf in the Arctic, a source close to Rosneft told Interfax.
The company received proposals prior to the expiration of the agreement between Rosneft and BP, the source said. "Since the expiration of the agreement with BP there have not been any negotiations with anyone thus far. There have been no contacts on the subject of the Arctic after May 16," he said.
Right now, Rosneft is not associated with an Arctic agreement with BP, the source said. The company's "hands are untied" and it is free to start negotiations with interested parties.
Rosneft has received a BP proposal in the context of previous agreements that the Russian company is also ready to look at, the source said.
As reported, BP and Rosneft announced plans for global cooperation in the Arctic and an exchange of stock. The AAR consortium (Alfa Group, Access Industries, and Renova) reckoned this was in violation of the TNK-BP shareholder agreement and took the matter to court. A court in Stockholm gave BP and Rosneft the go-ahead to swap shares on the condition that TNK-BP join the Arctic project in BP's stead.
BP and Rosneft had offered to buy out the AAR consortium's stake in TNK-BP, but they were unable to agree a price. The deadline for closing the BP/Rosneft deal was May 16. A source close to Rosneft said the deal will not take place because AAR made unacceptable demands. Rosneft is ready to seek other partners for operations in the Arctic, the source said. Meanwhile, AAR and BP said in a joint press release that they plan to focus on developing TNK-BP and will continue talks with Rosneft.
Rosneft announced on Wednesday that the AAR-BP negotiation process had produced proposals in the context of agreement with the British company that do not require the extension of the agreement timeframe, which ended May 16. These proposals make it possible to discuss further cooperation in the framework of expired agreements. Rosneft will issue an announcement about its program for developing deposits on the Arctic shelf in the near future.