MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia’s Gazprom Neft oil producer has offered the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) partnership on two Arctic Shelf license blocks — the Heysovskiy in the Barents Sea and the Severo-Vrangelevskiy (North-Wrangel) in the Chukchi Sea, Russian media reported Wednesday, citing a source in the company.
In May, the Russian-Chinese intergovernmental commission discussed potential cooperation between Russia’s fourth largest oil producer and the Chinese corporation.
"[Gazprom Neft] is continuing consultations with international companies that have the required competence to work on the shelf, including CNOOC," the source told the Kommersant newspaper.
According to the newspaper, Gazprom Neft has previously tried to attract Japanese and Vietnamese investors to these projects.
Geological exploration at the two license blocks in the Arctic started in August 2015. According to Gazprom Neft, over 2.1 billion tons of crude oil and 3 trillion cubic meters of natural gas could be found there.
