Exxon Mobil Corp, Rosneft' NK OAO Unveil $500 Billion Offshore Venture-Reuters

Reuters reported that Exxon Mobil Corp and Rosneft' NK OAO unveiled an offshore exploration partnership on Wednesday that could invest upward of $500 billion in developing Russia's vast energy reserves in the Arctic and Black Sea. The deal was the product of nearly a year of talks and came about despite a history of mutual distrust between Washington and Moscow dating back to the Cold War and recent difficulties for other Western firms in Russia. Under the deal, signed in Moscow on Monday, Exxon and state-controlled Rosneft will seek to develop three fields in the Arctic with recoverable hydrocarbon reserves estimated at 85 billion barrels in oil-equivalent terms. final investment decision on the projects in the Kara Sea, in the centre of Russia's north coast, is expected in 2016-17.