Statoil and Rosneft today signed the Shareholders and Operating Agreement for a joint venture to assess the feasibility of commercial production from the Domanik shale formation. The document was signed by Igor Sechin, President of Rosneft,and Helge Lund, Statoil CEO. This is another significant step forward following the Heads of Agreement for shale oil cooperation signed in June this year. 

"Today’s agreement demonstrates the two parties’ commitment to jointly move forward in an attempt to unlock the hydrocarbon potential of the Domanik shale formation. If successful, we believe this could be a world class shale oil asset,” says Lund. 

“Participation of a reliable partner like Statoil and the use of state-of-the-art technologies will help us accelerate the launch of hard-to-recover reserves development which in the future will be positively reflected in Rosneft financial statements and will increase its shareholder value,” says Sechin. 

The companies will set up a joint venture (JV) company to run a 3-year pilot programme and assess the potential for commercial production. The JV will be established with equity interests of 51% for Rosneft and 49% for Statoil. Both companies will contribute with technology and professionals into the JV. 

In accordance with the agreement, Statoil will provide carry-based funding to perform the pilot survey programme in 12 licence blocks. The pilot programme will include data acquisition, and the drilling and hydraulic fracturing of pilot wells. Upon completion of the pilot programme, Rosneft and Statoil will jointly select licence blocks in the Samara region for commercial development.