Exxon get deal in Russian Arctic

NY Times:

Exxon Mobil won a highly coveted prize in the global petroleum industry on Tuesday by striking an agreement to explore for oil in a Russian sector of the Arctic Ocean that is opening for drilling even as Alaskan waters remain mostly off limits.

The agreement seemed to supersede a similar but now-defunct partnership that Russia’s state oil company, Rosneft, reached with BP earlier this year. The deal announced Tuesday replaces BP, the British oil giant, with its American counterpart and introduces some differences in the geopolitical bargain.

Where BP had swapped stock, Exxon agrees to hand over to Rosneft unspecified assets elsewhere in the world, including some that the Texas-based company owns in the deepwater zones of the Gulf of Mexico and onshore in Texas.

It was not immediately clear whether Rosneft would gain operational control of any Texas or Gulf of Mexico sites or merely obtain a portion of the equity in the projects.

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It is absolutely absurd that Exxon had to go to Russia to get an opportunity to drill in the Arctic. It is another example of how bad the Obama administration's energy policy is. They have been blocking Shell's exploration closer in off shore Alaska and have not even considered opening up the US Arctic waters. It is just double dog dumb., as is their refusal to allow drilling in ANWR.

Obama has the most shortsighted energy policies of anyone currently seeking the Presidency. You really have to question his intellect if he really thinks some wind farm or solar farm could ever compete that the energy that could be produced by offshore wells. That just does not make any sense. If he opened up offshore drilling in this country it would create quarter of a million jobs just in the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the royalties to be paid to the government. There is nothing smart about Obama's energy policies.

Exxon needs to be wary of the Russians. They may try to steal the assets, once production is underway. But, Exxon is facing the same problem from the Obama administration on some of its Gulf leases.