Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, Vladimir Putin praised the technology Russian oil companies are using in the Arctic.
Quoted by The Moscow Times, the Russian President said “Our companies (working on the shelf) utilize the very best technology to protect the surrounding environment. I can say with pride that (Russian) companies are head and shoulders above their overseas partners.”
In the same speech, Putin suggested that Russia might ease applications from foreign companies wanting licenses for resources exploration. “Russia may simplify the application process for resource exploration licenses by foreign investors,” Putin said.
Truls Gulowsen with Greenpeace Norway says to BarentsObserver that the statement by the Russian President seems unsuppored by evidence. In his view, no oil companies are prepared to operate safely in the icy and remote Arctic ocean.
“We have no evidence that suggests Russian oil companies are better equipped to operate in the offshore Arctic than their Western competitors, rather the opposite,” says Truls Gulowsen.
“Rosneft and Gazprom have extremely limited offshore experience, and the regulatory framework for Arctic operations on the Russian shelf is even more fragmented than for example the Norwegian side. As an example, oil spill contingency plans are not made public in Russia, and there are no requirements to be able to drill relief wells, neither within 12 days as in Norway or within the season as in Canada,” Gulowsen says.
Quoting Interfax, The Moscow Times reports that the Russian government will operate under the maxim that companies investing money into exploration will receive an extraction license on the site.
In 2011, Russia’s stateown Rosneft signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with ExxonMobil, according to which three huge Kara Sea structures are to be explored. In the northern part of the Barents Sea, Rosneft has teamed up with Statoil for possible joint exploration.
A longer transcript of Vladimir Putin’s s speech is posted at the President’s portal.
