Rosneft earmarks $400 billion for Arctic exploration

On June 5, Igor Sechin, President and Chairman of the Management Board, Rosneft took part in a session of a roundtable on efficient and safe development of the Arctic in St. Petersburg.

The roundtable involves researchers and business community representatives and is led by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The session focused on scientific support for the development of the Arctic and implementing offshore projects in an environmentally safe way.

Igor Sechin made a report in which he mentioned that available geological data indicates the Arctic holds over 20% of the world’s oil reserves. He recalled that the Company will invest around $400bln in its Arctic offshore program over 20 years. Igor Sechin highlighted that multiplicative effect will exceed this sum sevenfold and then the development of Arctic can become one of the engines of the economic growth of the country.

Igor Sechin also said that Rosneft plans to have equipment and machines manufactured in Russian facilities. First and foremost, this refers to the Far Eastern Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Center in Promorye.

Pursuant to instructions from the Russian President, this center is to become the facility where Russian companies will be ordering vessels and sea equipment needed for exploring, producing and transporting hydrocarbons at offshore fields.