Statoil, Rosneft move forward with Russia shale JV

摘要

London—Norway’s Statoil and Russia’s Rosneft are moving forward with a project to develop the Domanik shale formation in the Samara region of southwestern Russia, signing Friday a shareholders and operating agreement for a joint venture to assess the feasibility of commercial production at the site. The accord is a follow-up deal to a heads of agreement signed by the companies for shale oil cooperation in June this year. Russia has enormous unconventional oil reserves, and the government this year approved long-awaited tax breaks, effective from September, to make crude production from unconventional fields profitable.