MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - Western sanctions against Russia will not affect collaboration between Russian and Norwegian oil and gas companies on the Norwegian continental shelf, Norway's energy minister Tord Lien told Aftenposten on Thursday.
"The restrictive measures target initiatives in Russia and not in the European Union or Norway. The companies that follow the rules and requirements we have in Norway are welcome to apply," Lien is quoted as saying by the Norwegian Aftenposten newspaper.
According to the minister, Norway is set to open a new licensing round in December, which will allow oil and gas companies to operate in new areas of the Norwegian continental shelf for the first time in years. Norwegian authorities are set to make their picks in the spring of 2016.
Some 40 companies, including Russian energy giants Lukoil and Rosneft, have submitted their suggestions on which areas Norway should make available to the oil and gas industry.
When asked whether sanctions would affect the joint work of Norway's Statoil and Russia's Rosneft, Lund stated that "our cooperation with Rosneft on the Norwegian shelf goes as planned", noting that the strategic partnership between the companies will continue.
Norway's mostly state-owned energy giant Statoil is a partner of Rosneft. The majority of Rosneft's shares are owned by the Russian government. The companies collaborate on projects in the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as pilot projects for heavy oil in Siberia and shale oil in the Samara region.
Norway, which itself is not a member of the European Union, has backed the EU sanctions against Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, a claim Moscow has repeatedly denied.
The restrictions target the Russian banking, oil and defense sectors and ban the provision of technical and other assistance to Russian companies in the field of oil exploration and production, specifically in the areas of Arctic Sea drilling and shale oil projects.
