Courtesy of rosneft.com

RN-Exploration (100% Rosneft subsidiary) and ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Mozambique Offshore Limited were declared winners for 3 blocks in the fifth license round organized by the Republic of Mozambique Institute of National Petroleum (Instituto Nacional de Petróleo).

The global partnership of Rosneft and ExxonMobil is of a strategic nature, the companies have a proven track record of highly successful cooperation internationally and at the Sakhalin-1 project in Russia.

This result marks a serious achievement for Rosneft and ExxonMobil - the consortium's bid was awarded the blocks despite facing strong competition from other global supermajors.

The INP evaluated 23 proposals and decided to award Rosneft and ExxonMobil the following 3 contract areas: A5-B in the Angoche Basin and Z5-C and Z5-D in the Zambezi Delta. The prospectivity assessment for the exploration on these contract areas was confirmed within the cooperation of both Companies’ geological analysis.

Upon receiving the award the companies will commence negotiations with the Government of the Republic of Mozambique and INP on the detailed terms of participation. Once completed ExxonMobil will become the operator.

The participation in exploration and development projects in Mozambique is a new focus area of Rosneft’s international strategy: the Company promotes its positioning in regions of significant hydrocarbon potential. These projects allow Rosneft to obtain access to high-quality assets, while minimizing the risks in the implementation of frontier exploration projects by partnering with global industry leaders.

Rosneft and Exxon Neftegas Ltd. (ExxonMobil subsidiary) are “Sakhalin-1” project partners. Within the project the fields Chayvo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi are being developed.

In 2011, Rosneft and ExxonMobil executed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement under which the companies agreed to review potential joint exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources in Russia, the United States and other countries throughout the world.

Source: rosneft.com