BP, Rosneft, Schlumberger Share Technology
Three majors in their spheres – Russia state Rosneft, the UK's BP and US oilfield services company Schlumberger – have agreed to collaborate on seismic research and development, they said in a joint statement September 2.
The agreements were signed at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, Russia by Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin, the president of BP Russia David Campbell and Schlumberger’s regional president Gokhan Saygi.
BP told NGW that it could not put a dollar figure on the planned operation as the investments will be on a project by project basis.
Under the terms of the agreements, Rosneft will join as an equal partner in BP’s ongoing project with Schlumberger’s seismic business, WesternGeco, to develop cableless onshore seismic acquisition technology.
The technology aims to revolutionize the design and acquisition of 2D and 3D seismic surveys, meaning faster, better but cheaper data acquisition even in difficult to access areas and extreme climates, they said.
The project envisages an initial two-year period to complete the development of a seismic acquisition system. BP and Rosneft will have preferential access to this technology for an initial period, after which Schlumberger will have the exclusive rights to market the system.
BP and Rosneft are engaged in major exploration projects in Russia. This June they signed final binding agreements to form the joint venture Yermak Neftegaz, split 51-49 in Rosneft's favour. The joint venture will explore two areas of mutual interest in the West Siberian and Yenisei-Khatanga basins covering a combined area of about 260,000 km². The year before they agreed to work together in Taas-Yuryakh in eastern Siberia following the sale to BP of a 20% stake in the asset. BP already owns a fifth of Rosneft.
Sechin said the fact that Rosneft, “Russia’s leading oil and gas company, will be involved in the development of state-of-the-art technologies is of prime importance. As a result, innovative solutions will be tailored for specific Russian settings. Given the international status of the research project, the product to be created will have a significant potential on global markets.”
Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin and BP Russia boss, David Campbell, sign the Taas-Yuryakh deal in St Petersburg 2015 (Credit: BP)
Campbell said the combination of the three companies would yield “unique opportunities for the creation and rapid deployment of leading-edge seismic technologies,.”
“We are excited to be working with BP and Rosneft on this innovative acquisition technology that will revolutionize and expand our industry’s ability to image the subsurface, especially in challenging land environments, worldwide,” said Gokhan Saygi.
Technological cooperation of this particular kind is not covered by economic sanctions imposed by the EU and US since July 2014 against Russia, in the wake of its occupation of Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine. Nor it appears was an agreement by German firm Linde with Gazprom and two Russian equipment manufacturers on R&D into liquefaction signed in June of this year.
William Powell