Yesterday, 9th of April 2013, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, supervised the signing of memorandum on cooperation on Arctic shelf between representatives of Gazprom and Dutch Royal Shell.
The memorandum was signed in Amsterdam and it brings together two nations in race for Arctic natural resources.
The memorandum defines key points of cooperation in the Russian Arctic shelf gas and shale oil reserves investigation and development.
In 2010 Gazprom and the Royal Dutch Shell signed a Protocol on a global strategic cooperation, and in June 2011 the companies signed an agreement on making a joint company, kremlin.ru says.
If Gazprom gets licences for two shelf blocks in the Churcha and Pechora Seas, the Russian company will get 66,7% shares in the Russian-Dutch joint project, and Shell will get 33,3%.
The new agreement between "Gazprom neft" and Royal Dutch Shell confirms the General partnership agreement on shale oil investigation and production.
According to the agreement, the companies will make "Salym Petroleum Development N.V" joint company for new shale gas projects in Khanti-Mansi Autonomous district. Both sides will have 50% shares of the company, which is to be registered in St.Petersburg.
Russia and Holland have been working together on Sakhalin Shelf, and believe that Sakhalin experience will be used for work on the Arctic shelf and with shale oil.
Gazprom believes the new company will increase a competence and a technological level of the Russian oil industry.
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