The Obama Administration looks at Russia as hostile to the interests of the United States and realized that the country may prove as a wide pool of oil in one of its most remote areas. Rosneft now is into a partnership with Exxon and the two companies will strike oil in the Arctic.
Rosneft stated that drilling has already finished in northernmost well in the world—Universitetskaya-1. The drilling of the well was completed and it produced what is termed by many as ‘astonishing sample of light oil’. It’s estimated that the well can give access to more than 100 million tons of crude oil and hundreds of cubic meters of gas.
The drilling site has been the focus of environmentalists protests who are bothered that drilling in that part of the Arctic would do harm to nature. While the drilling of crude oil is going on, questions have been thrown here and there on how fast it can be established. Experts say that the progress may prove to be problematic given that Russia is under continued sanctions from the United States as well as the European Union.
BP on the other hand warned against continued sanctions under Rosneft believing that it may have an effect on the drilling processes. For the record, BP currently owns share reserves with Rosneft and holds 20 per cent stake in the energy company.