ExxonMobil and its Russian partner have found oil in an Arctic well where drilling was to have stopped today but for a US extension granted to prevent a possible environmental accident. In a statement on Sept. 27, Russia’s Rosneft said the two companies discovered 9.3 billion barrels of oil and gas, one of the world’s largest finds in years.
The oil was found at Universitetskaya, a 7,700-foot well in the Kara Sea that ExxonMobil’s partner, Rosneft, believes holds about 9 billion barrels of oil. The find seems certain to create tension with the US government, which two weeks ago slapped new sanctions on Russia that forbid US companies from participating in Russian Arctic drilling. Lobbied by Exxon, the Obama administration granted the company an extension through October 10, 2014 in order to allow the safe cementing and abandonment of the well…
South Africa Today – World News
