Maritime Border Agreement a Drawback for Russian Oil and Gas – Russian Expert

The Russian-Norwegian agreement on delineation of the Barents Sea is necessary for Russia’s bid to the UN , but a consequence will be that Russian gas will become less competitive on the world market, a Russian scientist believes.

"The agreement is extremely relevant when it comes to Russia’s bid to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf", said Anatoly Vinogradov, Chief Scientific Secretary at Kola Scientific Center to web site Nord-News.ru. Russia not only has to prove that the sea bottom beneath the Arctic Sea is a continuation of the Russian land, but also settle all disputes on delimitation with the U.S. and Norway, Vinogradov explained.

"That’s why the answer to the question if this delineation of the disputed zone in the Barents Sea came at the appropriate time is a clear “yes”, in this aspect. The time had come; there was no more time to continue the discussions", he said.

But on the other side Vinogradov believes that Russia was too indulgent in the negotiations with Norway and lost access to large areas where the possibility of finding natural resources is big. Geological surveys conducted by Russia in the disputed area in the 1980s showed that the Fedynski Ridge might contain some 5.8 trillion cubic meters of gas. After the maritime border agreement this area has been cut in two halves, Vinogradov said.

Earlier Vladimir Selin, Chief Research Scientist at the Kola Science Center, has predicted that Statoil will withdraw from the Shtokman project, now when the Norwegians have got hold on new, more accessible fields in the Barents Sea. Anatoly Vinogradov is of the same opinion, and he also believes that a swift Norwegian start-up of exploitation will make the gas from the harder accessible Shtokman field less competitive when it sometime in the future reaches the world market.